Overview: Audi Q3 2.0 TDI in brief
Audi's all-new, third-generation Q3 has arrived with a choice of two body styles - the regular SUV and a sleeker Sportback derivative - and five drivetrains. Three of these are petrol-powered, another is a plug-in hybrid called the e-Hybrid - and the last is a turbodiesel, which is what we're testing here. We drove it in Scotland to find out if it's still worth considering next to the new, long-range PHEV version.
Pros & cons of the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI
Pros: well-built and spacious interior, reasonable running costs, lots of tech
Cons: inert chassis, unsettled ride, engine feels a bit dead
What's different from the Audi Q3 Sportback e-Hybrid?
The most obvious difference with the 2.0 TDI we're testing here compared to the e-Hybrid reviewed elsewhere on the site is that this Audi is the regular SUV, with a higher roofline and more upright tailgate.
We know the Sportback is supposed to be the more desirable, hence why it carries a four-figure premium model-for-model over the SUV, but we prefer the look of the 'standard' Q3.
That, though, doesn't mean we think this is a stunning piece of design. It's still not massively distinctive among other, bigger Audi SUVs, while the company's current language of slim, high-set headlight clusters leads to its vehicles having big, chunky chins.
There's also, when you view the Q3 from dead side-on, a lot of ungainly front overhang. The SUV isn't an ugly car, obviously, but in our opinion, Audi has styled better and more adventurous compact models than this previously.
One final differential from the e-Hybrid, aside from exterior badging of course, is that the TDI doesn't have the charging port flap on its nearside front wing like the hybrid - the diesel instead just has the usual fuel filler on the rear flanks.
Performance of the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI
• Turbodiesel soldiers on into 2026
• Supposedly has 360Nm
• Never feels anything like that muscular
Though diesel is, in general, on the wane, a glance at 2024's registration figures for the Audi Q3 reveal nearly 70 per cent were actually fitted with TDI engines, so this powertrain is still relevant to Irish buyers, even if the new e-Hybrid system is superior in most situations.
And while it might not be a fair comparison to make, compared to the quattro petrol model, the way the 2.0 TDI drives feels lacklustre and nothing like as polished, certainly when it comes to the ride quality on this car.
It's always needlessly unsettled, giving the impression the Q3 is nervous and fidgety, and it doesn't deal with larger impacts to the suspension with any degree of grace, while tyre roar seems elevated in the cheaper front-driven models in the range, compared to the more expensive (to buy and run) quattros and the e-Hybrid.
Yet the diesel doesn't even significantly outperform the 1.5-litre TFSI petrol model that is the entry-level car either. It should do; with 360Nm of torque, it has an extra 110Nm over the TFSI, despite the fact both make the same 150hp peak power. Yet the TDI is a tenth slower to 100km/h from rest than the TFSI.
That's a metric which doesn't mean a huge amount in reality, as few people ever do full-bore standing starts in their vehicles anyway, but we cite it because it speaks volumes about how weirdly torque-light the TDI is to drive. If you're expecting some mid-range surge from this Q3 once it is rolling, you'll find it never comes no matter what provocation you subject the Audi to. Even using full throttle onto dual carriageways when leaving roundabouts, the diesel feels lethargic, and it sounds noisy - Volkswagen Group 2.0-litre TDIs felt more refined and punchier than this ten years ago.
In summary, the Q3 2.0 TDI is OK for handling but nothing more. It is OK for refinement but nothing more. And its performance is OK... but nothing more. It's all curiously underwhelming and feels as if Audi has heavily focused its development attention and budget elsewhere in the new Q3 line-up, only adding the TDI as an afterthought.
The problem is, you're still paying premium prices for this SUV because it has Audi badges on the exterior - even if the overall driving experience doesn't feel anything like as capable and as classy as you'd expect of this marque.
Interior, practicality, tech & comfort of the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI
• Build quality is exemplary
• Good amount of room in rear
• Irksome column stalk and weird cluster display
As we found in the e-Hybrid Sportback, the interior of the Q3 2.0 TDI SUV is as well put together as you'd demand of an Audi. There are some odd trim finishes which can detract from the overall ambience, but in general the fit of all the panels and the tactility of the major surfaces and switchgear (save for the haptic buttons on the steering wheel) are superb.
There's better passenger space in the back of the Q3 SUV than there is in the Sportback, so if you have taller children or you sometimes carry more than one adult passenger, it's the standard body style which is understandably more practical than the 'coupe'-shaped one, with its 29mm-lower roofline. Also, the TDI has the (joint) biggest boot of any Audi Q3, measuring 488 litres with all seats in use.
Shame all Q3s get a new daft design of left-hand column stalk. It has had controls for all of the wiper functions, the indicators and the main-beam lights foisted onto it in a less-than-satisfactory manner - necessitating a moveable tablet for the indicators, and a rotary dial for wiper speeds, and strangely inset controls for the rear wiper. You'd get used to it in time... but you shouldn't have to. Standard, segregated column stalks have worked fine for decades now, and this item is just needless reinvention for the sake of some symmetry with the column-mounted gear shifter on the other side of the wheel.
Then there's the letterbox aspect of the 11.9-inch instrument cluster, and the mainly grey colouration of it. The former results in a thick black band of ugly dead space sitting above the screen, so that it can form the 'Digital Stage' construct that also houses the 12.8-inch touchscreen infotainment, while the latter makes the display itself look a bit drab and like there's not enough graphics to adequately fill the space on the screen.
When the beautiful Virtual Cockpit of a ten-year-old Audi TT feels like a cut above the latest technology in the brand-new Q3, then you know something is amiss.
Irish pricing & rivals of the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI
• Q3 SUV starts from sub-€50,000
• Diesel priced close to the e-Hybrid
• Plenty of premium alternatives
The Audi Q3 in general is priced competitively compared to its usual BMW, Lexus, Mercedes and Volvo rivals, and it comes with a good amount of kit as both a standard SE and this grander S line specification.
But when this 150hp TDI is as expensive as the plug-in e-Hybrid, which has 272hp and the promise of 100km-plus of electric-only driving, it's hard to make a case for the TDI being great value in the current family of Q3s.
Verdict - should you buy the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI?
It probably doesn't matter what we say here, because the Audi Q3 will sell in its droves in all its varied formats, regardless of critical appraisal. It has the requisite four-ring badges on it and is a known quantity, with more than two million examples of the previous two generations of the SUV having found homes in little more than a decade of being on sale.
That said, the new Q3 feels like a curiously underwhelming thing by Audi's own ambitious standards. It does nothing terribly wrong, not even when considering our grumbles about unusual elements of the interior, but then, it does nothing shiningly brilliant, either. Better in its top-end specifications, which of course are more expensive as a result, you needn't avoid the 2.0 TDI version, yet we'd also not be recommending you rush straight out to your local Audi dealer to bag one. It's just adequately fine.
FAQs about the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI
Does the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI come as a Sportback too?
Yes, you can have this same 150hp diesel drivetrain in the more rakish Sportback body as well. It'll cost you about €1,800 to upgrade to that configuration.
Is Audi Q3 2.0 TDI also offered with quattro all-wheel drive?
No, at the time of writing, the only quattro models in the Q3 family are both based on the 2.0 TFSI petrol engine, though neither are listed on Audi Ireland's website. There's one with 204hp and another with 265hp, the latter using the engine employed in both the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Skoda Octavia RS.
The rest of the Q3 line-up - the 1.5 TFSI with 150hp, this 2.0-litre TDI with the same power output, and the 272hp e-Hybrid plug-in model - are all front-wheel drive.
How many ISOFIX points are there in the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI?
Audi is generous on this score and provides three sets of ISOFIX points - one on the front passenger seat, the other two on the outer two chairs of the rear bench.
Want to know more about the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI?
Is there anything else you'd like to know about the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI S line? Or anything you feel we haven't covered here? Then just head over to our Ask Us Anything section and, well, ask us anything.
