Velvet Magazine April 2017

Motoring
“If JK Rowling made a Harry Potter book about hotcakes,
then the Audi Q2 would be the motoring
equivalent,” says Phil Huff, motoring expert
in his latest review of the model
Introducing The Audi Q2
Regardless of how good the product is,
Audi just won’t be able to make enough
of them. With SUV and crossover sales
booming, and Audi seemingly unable to
do wrong in the eyes of the buying public,
combining the two must create a winning
combination, right?
Audi has provided everything needed to
take advantage of the boom; there’s a
range of engines to suit all needs, from
a tiny 1.0-litre petrol through to the
2.0-litre turbo diesel in this test model.
Generating 187bhp, this is the hottest
version of the Q2 (at least until the
inevitable SQ2 appears) and comes paired
with a seven-speed automatic gearbox and
Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system.
That should ensure decent handling,
and there’s no doubt that the Q2 is a
reasonably agile little number. It’s broadly
similar to the A3 hatchback that it shares
so much under the skin with, with a little
extra ride height and body mass. This
doesn’t upset the balance too much, but
even with the quattro system it does tend
to understeer when pushed to the limits.
It remains utterly predictable and entirely
safe, though.
The progressive steering system - it alters
how far the front wheels turn when you
spin the steering wheel depending on your
speed - actually works well and doesn’t
leave you wishing for an old-fashioned
linear system. Switch the Drive Select
system on the dashboard to Dynamic
mode and the steering gets more direct,
while the throttle response gets sharper
Written by Phil Huff
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Velvet Magazine | April 2017