Audi RS Q3

The cabin of the Audi RS Q3 too gets the same treatment as what the exterior gets over the standard Q3. It has a number of sporty looking elements, such as carbon fiber treatment to the door panels and dashboard and red contrast stitching. These changes, along with the all-black treatment and contrast silver touches, gives the cabin a very upmarket appeal.

The interior feels even more special with top-notch features like full TFT display for Audi Virtual Cockpit instrument console, 12-.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system and top-class leather upholstery. The asymmetric center console is slightly tilted towards the driver side for a more dynamic approach while driving.

From the outside, the Audi RS Q3 looks exactly what it’s meant to be at the very first place – to create a sportier aura over the regular Q3. The SUV comes with a number of styling enhancements over the Q3, which makes it look much more aggressive and desirable model over the latter.

At the front, the Audi RS Q3 gets the same octagonal grille with a sleek grille lining over it, as the regular Q3. However, here, the grille is finished in a more captivating theme of gloss black and gets honeycomb inserts. The honeycomb inserts are well carried out for the large air intake in the center of the front bumper. The front bumper also gets sportier-looking bigger air dams, which are present on the corners in place of fog lamp housings.

The side profile of the Audi RS Q3 remains the same as that of the regular Q3, with smooth lines flowing over the front and rear fenders. However, to jazz it up, Audi has equipped the RS Q3 with a completely different looking set of gloss black machined alloy wheels. In addition to this, the rearview mirrors too are finished in a theme of gloss black to accentuate its sporty appeal.

Audi has made some minute changes to the rear profile of the RS Q3 over the regular version. While it gets the same angular tail lamps with Y-themed LED inserts and crisp design for the boot lid as the Q3, the rear bumper has been given a sportier treatment with honeycomb inserts on its upper portion, sporty rear diffuser and bigger rounded exhaust ports.

The Audi RS Q3 feels much more dynamic and spirited to drive over the regular Q3, with the strongest reason behind this is the presence of RS Sport adaptive suspension setup. This, along with the Audi drive select with multiple drive modes, make the SUV much more engaging and zestful. However, in the process, the Audi RS Q3 has a stiff ride quality over sharp undulations and irregular patches of tarmac. Matching the precision of the complete chassis of the Audi RS Q3 is the RS steel brake system, which gets sportier-looking and better performing red callipers.

The Audi RS Q3 shares its 2.5-litre four-cylinder TFSI petrol engine with the more premium RS Q3 Sportback. This engine is coupled to an 8-speed automatic gearbox and produces 400 bhp of maximum power and 480 Nm of maximum torque.

Being one of the highest-spec variants of the Q3 lineup, the Audi RS Q3 gets premium safety equipment like lane departure warning, parking system plus, adaptive cruise control, Audi pre sense, airbags all around and a 360-degree camera.

The Audi RS Q3 adequately gets all the necessary visual enhancements, bump in performance and more spirited driving dynamics over the regular Q3, thus justifying its more premium appeal.