2015 Audi RS Q3 first drive

The Audi RS Q3 - largely as we remember it. Despite receiving more attention than most in a facelift of the Audi Q3 line-up, fundamentally this remains the same model that landed in 2012. 

That car was fast; this one, inevitably, is slightly faster and marginally more efficient with it. That’s because in the process of upgrading its characterful 2.5-litre five-cylinder petrol engine to Euro 6 standard, Audi has found an additional 30bhp - bringing total output to 335bhp.

The concurrent improvement in 0-62mph is around half a second; a reduction helped along by shortened shift times on the standard seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. 

Also uprated is the on-demand four-wheel drive system, which now gets a fifth generation Haldex hydraulic clutch plate for torque splitting duties. 

Elsewhere, the differences between old and new are purely cosmetic, and rather subtle. The grille has been redesigned with an awkward looking surround, while the updated head and tail lights are a feature shared with the rest of the range. 

There’s a smattering of customisation available, and 20-inch alloy wheels are standard - as is a powered tailgate. Adaptive dampers remain on the options list, but featured on our test car. 

Hasty and haughty, much as it was before. Its finest attribute, by some distance, is still the vigorous five-pot motor. 

The character of Audi’s modern inline five - an angry, gargling top end toughness - is unchanged but for the extra shove that now comes with it. That alone would be sufficient for a thumbs up, but it’s the flexibility of the unit which impresses over a longer drive. 

Combined with an easily modulated throttle and sharpened gearbox, the 2.5-litre lump’s potency gives it a natural and very fluid usability. 

Peak torque may only have a risen by 22lb ft, but there’s still 332lb ft of it from 1600rpm, and even with the gearbox left in its default auto mode, the Q3 tends to respond more crisply than its sluggish AMG equivalent.

Switch to the paddles, and it’s leagues ahead - any lack of tactility made up for by the speed of the shifts. This means that no matter whether you’re crawling forward in traffic or manually hitting the limiter on an autobahn, the charm offensive remains constant. 

If only the car around it had such consistent appeal. Unfortunately, the peaks and troughs of its likability are scaled and slipped into repeatedly. For a start, the steering, numb before, may just be worse. 

Unlike its RS siblings, there’s no picking and choosing individual components’ state of tune on the Drive Select system, which means you’re stuck with Comfort or Dynamic. That means you’re lumbered with either expressionless and over-assisted steering alongside just-about acceptable damper responses, or a senseless, rigid level of resistance paired with the all-too familiar pattery RS jiggle. 

Of course, that doesn’t prevent the Q3 doing things that no crossover ought to be able to, but the car’s impressive composure at speed is rendered aloof by the shortfall in communication between you and the controls.