Audi SQ2 2019 UK first drive

The car you see here is the new Audi SQ2. As you’ll be able to deduce from its name, it’s a sharper, faster version of Ingolstadt’s smallest SUV. 

Beneath that snouty front end it has a turbocharged four-pot motor that develops 296bhp and 295lb ft of torque, four-wheel drive, a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox and a sub-5.0sec 0-60mph time. It has a base price tag higher than £35,000, but lower than £40,000.

If you think that formula sounds familiar, you’d be right. You could tack that exact same description on to the Cupra Ateca, the Volkswagen Golf R, and the forthcoming Volkswagen T-Roc R, too - perhaps with the exception of price for the latter.

Now, when I was at school, I was always told that copying a classmate’s work was a big no-no. The same went for copy-pasting something from the internet and passing it off as my own work - you just didn’t do it. While the world of automotive manufacturing is obviously totally different to that of the classroom, I can’t help but detect a whiff of the above going on at Volkswagen Group at the moment.

Obviously, platform sharing is nothing new. And it’s a good thing that this ubiquity is countered by the fact each arm of the VW Group has its own distinct image. Being an Audi, the SQ2 should theoretically come with a chic, tech-rich cabin; and be able to stick to the road with the same tenacity as one of those facehuggers from Alien.

While it falls a bit short on the first count (it now feels very ‘last-generation’ Audi inside), on the second it doesn’t disappoint. There are pretty serious grip levels here.

The Quattro four-wheel drive constantly redistributes torque from front to rear axle to keep the SQ2 on line; and when the nose does wash to understeer up to 100% of that force can be directed to the rear. You can feel the car momentarily pivot around its centre when it does, gently tucking the nose back in. It’s rather impressive.

That ‘EA888’ engine feels very nearly as potent here as it does in the Golf R, too. After a degree of initial lag the Audi accelerates with a muscular ferocity, and it’ll continue to pull right up to its 6500rpm limiter. With its torque being spread so wide (2000-5200rpm), you can plant your foot in just about any gear and make rapid progress.

There are caveats, though. While stiffened, lowered sports suspension keeps body roll largely in check; an animated, often fussy ride comes with it. It’s at its most irritable at town speeds and on medium-pace country roads; and even when you add pace it still has a tendency to rebound and deflect more than is truly comfortable. I remember a Volkswagen Golf R riding with a degree more polish than this.