MOTORING
Audi
Q2
Audi has introduced the all-new
Q2 model to the market place, it
is stylish, spacious and practical
crossover that appears to be in the
market place for customers who
want the Nissan Qashqai type of
SUV but are after a little bit more
finesse and style and dare we say
quality that the other manufacturers
strive to produce and Audi has it
abundance writes Bob Hickman.
The Q2 fills yet another gap in the
Audi arsenal, they really do seem
to appear now to fill every single
niche that there is in the car market,
but knowing Audi they will soon find
another derivative. The new Q2
which is just a slightly shorter and
narrower than the A3, suggests they
have a vehicle that will sell in an
absolute shedload.
The Q2 fills the expectations that you
have for an SUV, it ticks the boxes in
respect of the high entry, excellent
visibility and quite a good luggage
compartment. The luggage
compartment has 2 levels, but if you
specify your Audi Q2 with the superb
Bose sound system be prepared
to loose boot space because the
big base woofer speaker occupies
a recess in the boot, meaning that
you cannot lower the boot floor,
with the subsequent loss of space,
i.e. no golf bag and trolley.
The Q2 is available with a selection
of different power configurations.
First there is the diminutive 116ps
1-litre 3-cylinder, and then the well
proved 150ps 1.4-litre TFSI,
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This engine bristles with technology
and it has the clever cylinder on
demand system, which means
that if the electronics detect there
is not a big stress or workload
required, then 2 of the cylinders
are switched down and the
vehicle just propels itself along as a
2-cylinder, an economical feature
and once in operation is quite an
amazing factor. In addition there
are 2, 4-cylinder diesels available
as a 1.6-litre or the extremely well
proven 2-litre. These produce 116ps
and 150ps, so power outputs
are very similar to their petrol
counterparts.If a 4-wheel drive
quattro is what ticks your box,
then you will need to have the
2-litre diesel.
There is an option of either a
6-speed manual transmission or
the brilliant S-tronic dual clutch
transmission system with 7-speed.
This can be specified on all the
engines with the exception of
the little 1-litre.