Audi Q3 Dynamic : First Drive

The Audi Q3 has been on the market for a while now, and in that time it has gone on to become very popular in the Indian automobile market. This is largely because, as a compact luxury SUV it ticks all the right boxes in this SUV crazy nation, full of aspirational luxury vehicle buyers with rising disposable income.

I went for a spin in the new flagship ‘Dynamic’ variant of the Q3 which features adaptive suspension with Audi’s Drive Select system, to see how much of a difference there is from the standard suspension setup on the Q3.

Exteriors

The Audi Q3 Dynamic is befitting of being the top model of the Q3 range with it’s full chrome front grille, 17 inch ‘Trias’ design alloy wheels and clear lens LED tail lamps. While these changes are subtle, they do make the Dynamic variant stand out nicely and make it appear more upmarket.

The Q3 otherwise as always has been a very good looking compact luxury SUV with a nice and sporty profile. The large grille is flanked by sleek headlamps incorporating a rather striking daytime running LED design. The bumper is well chistled and has large flared fog lamp housings on either side, the lamps themselves are rounded off in chrome. The lower section of the bumper is finished in black plastic with a very sleek sliver central air dam. The bonnet too has sleek design lines running from the headlamps to the bottom of the A-Pillars.

Interior

The Audi Q3 has a spacious cabin for a compact SUV. And every time you step inside, you realize that this is genuinely a nice place to be in. The interiors feel luxurious with the use of good quality plastics and leather associated with more expensive Audi models. Audi has also done a good job of using various materials and colour trim to lend plenty of visual breaks and lend an upmarket look. Fit and finish of all the trim panels is good too and the cabin is actually quite hard to fault for a vehicle of it’s type.

While the Q3 is available in different variations of trim colour, the vehicle I had featured a light brown shade for the top of the dash board and door pads, beige dashboard lower section, seats, roof, as well as pillar trim and leather inserts on the door pads. All door pads and the left top section of the dash get wood inserts to lend an upmarket touch. There are also dashes of chrome on the dashboard as well as door handles to add a contemporary touch to the cabin.

Safety

The Audi Q3 has a five-star EuroNCAP safety rating with a 94 per cent rating for adults, 86 per cent for children, 52 per cent for pedestrian protection and 86 per cent for safety assist systems. Aside from impact beams and crumple zones, safety features aboard the Audi Q3 Dynamic include anti-lock brakes, traction control, electronic stability control, wheel-selective torque distribution, electronic differential lock, hill start assist, as well as front and side airbags.