2026 Audi Q3 review: Australian first drive

The Q3 has long been an important car for the Audi brand in Australia, and now more so than ever. Similar to the rule of thumb to pick the second-cheapest wine on the menu to impress the waiter, the Q3 is the brand's second-most affordable SUV.

That makes it the brand’s bread and butter, comprising nearly 40 per cent of all Australian Audi sales in 2025 – stunning given the generation on sale last year was six years old.

The market is clearly thirsty for the new generation, which is finally here. It sports new engine choices, more power, new styling inside and out, and, of course, a mild price increase.

This car bears the pressure of an entire brand on its shoulders, being the most popular, so it's absolutely imperative for the brand to get it all right.

I spent some time across all three trim levels to find out if Audi has the formula right to continue this legendary model’s success.

Pricing for the 2026 Audi Q3 range starts from $61,600 plus on-road costs for the TFSI 110kW front-wheel-drive variant, and ranges up to $84,400 for the TFSI 195kW Sportback quattro version.

This means the goalposts for entry into the Audi Q3 range have moved $2900 up over the outgoing 35 TFSI variant in 2025.

Still, the trim names have moved to fall in line with the rest of the Q range, sporting the power output rather than a random number, making the order form a little simpler, though it's not just a power upgrade when moving up the order.

Standard equipment from the base 110kW sees a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged mild-hybrid petrol engine, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, 12.8-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 11.9-inch full-colour instrument cluster, adaptive LED lighting around the car, electric tailgate, and the full suite of safety equipment.

The Sportback body style is back again for 2026, seeing a $2000–$3000 price jump over the SUV in its similar trim level, and for the 110kW it adds the S line exterior styling kit and 19-inch alloy wheels.

Moving up a trim to the TFSI 150kW from $70,200 plus on-road costs sees a power and capacity increase to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol and begins the lead into the quattro-only all-wheel-drive part of the range. S line exterior styling makes its way onto the car as standard, along with 19-inch alloy wheels, 'sport' front seats with integrated headrests, and hill descent assist.

The range is now topped by the addition of a 195kW variant utilising that same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine powering all four wheels from $81,900 plus on-roads. Further additions to this trim include 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive dampers as standard, panoramic glass roof, red brake calipers, privacy glass, heated steering wheel, black headlining, more ambient lighting, head-up display, 12-speaker sound system and faster USB-C ports.

Furthermore, Audi is offering a Launch Edition for an additional $5400 for the 110kW variants and an additional $4400 for the 150kW, which sees the addition of an S line exterior package (110kW variant only), adaptive dampers, metallic paint, red calipers, a black exterior styling package, a sound actuator, and different 19-inch alloy wheels.

In terms of European competitors, this price segment sees a few big names, including the BMW X1 starting from $63,400 plus on-roads, the Volvo XC40 from $54,990 plus on-roads, the Lexus UX from $55,370 plus on-roads, and the Mini Countryman from $50,990 plus on-roads.

Because of the modular design from the MQB platform, there are a few competitors from the Volkswagen-Audi Group, though the majority of similarities start at the front bar and end at the driver's door.

The Cupra Terramar, which starts from $58,490 drive-away, and the Volkswagen Tiguan, which starts from $45,650 plus on-roads, both share this platform.

It will certainly be a tough one for people at the dealership to toss up between the heavy hitters of the luxury small segment.

Opening the driver’s door to even the base-variant TFSI 110kW is a lovely experience. It really solidifies why this car has become Audi’s number-one poster boy for Australian sales.

For a small SUV, it certainly feels like it’s uncompromising on luxury. Everything feels trimmed quite nicely, and you don’t really feel like you’re in a base-variant car with things such as a wireless phone charger, leather-appointed seating and a gorgeous pair of screens.

Alternatively, you can upgrade this trim and the 150kW with the Premium Package for $4400 to include a Sonos sound system, panoramic sunroof, and head-up display.

It doesn’t really become clear that you’re sitting in a base variant until you start moving up the trim ladder. The 150kW adds some additional trims to the door cards, slightly different material to the sport seats, along with a few other small bits.

But the gem of the range comes in the form of the 195kW. The addition of the suede across the door cards and dash mixed with the sport steering wheel, standard-fit sunroof, and the S line seats make for a pleasurable interior experience.

There’s a preconceived idea of limited space in a small SUV, and to me it always felt like I’d be cramped within this segment. But with the Q3 sitting on the larger end of the spectrum, it means the driver and passenger have plenty of space to find a comfortable seating position.

Even for taller folks, you can put yourself up quite high without your head skimming the roof, which gives this overall feeling you’re driving something bigger.

Throughout the launch, and especially in the 150kW and 195kW's seats, I noted lower back discomfort, mostly from the shape of the seat bottom. There is lumbar adjustment, but I could not get it into a spot that felt natural.

The rest of the front row is mostly positive. The addition of a wireless charging pad is certainly a good choice from the base variant for an ever-demanding gadget-focused market, with ventilation added to stop your phone from getting hot even though it’s out of the sun – an afterthought for many manufacturers now.

Electric adjustment for both front seats, two USB-C ports, which are upgraded from 60 watts to 100 watts with the premium package/195kW trim, two cupholders, a music control panel, and a deep centre-console complete the front row.

Jumping into the Q3 will confuse historic buyers because Audi has done away with cladding its steering column with a plethora of stalks. Instead, it has gone for one of the most confusing-looking column-control units.

It’s a really strange system to use. The gear selector sits on the right and has a very limited movement between selecting drive and reverse. It’s a similar story on the left side of the wheel with your indicator. Instead of moving a whole stalk, it's just a stumpy little switch.

It gets even more overwhelming when you go to switch on your wipers from the tiny dial on your left side, try to figure out how to activate the rear wiper from a button, and flash your headlights with the aforementioned indicator stump.

I understand that it cleans up the interior a fair bit, but it feels unnecessarily complex and confusing, though I can see owners getting the hang of it eventually.

While Audi says it's committed to getting rid of the less-than-favoured haptic-touch steering wheel controls, the new Q3 still has them. So you’ll be pressing the button to change a song, and next thing you know, you’ve accidentally dragged your finger across the volume button to blast your music.

I dare say that the second row is a little smaller than first expected when looking at this car from the outside, and I needed to remind myself that this is considered a small SUV, not a medium.

With the driver’s seat set to where I would normally have it, I found myself in the second row being squashed in slightly. I wouldn’t recommend two adults sitting in the back for an extended period.

The feeling of being cramped is only accentuated by the brand’s choice to put hard plastic on the back of the first row. So instead of taller people like me sinking my knees into something soft, you're bashing your knees into tough material.

Strangely enough, there isn’t a massive difference between headspace in the SUV versus the Sportback. You lose a little bit, but not enough to warrant a change of decision purely based on second-row space.

It’s quite basic back here: just a small LCD for temperature control via the two vents, two USB-C ports, and a fold-down armrest with two cupholders. However, the second row does have an adjustment to move forward and back, along with a slight recline.

Moving to the boot, the electric tailgate will open to 488 litres – presumably with the second row set as far forward as possible – a figure that remains the same no matter if you choose the Sportback or SUV.

Surprisingly, that’s slightly bigger than a Mitsubishi Outlander and around the same size as a Subaru Forester – both medium SUVs.

The Sportback does cut into your folded second-row boot space, though, offering 1289L compared to the SUV’s 1386L.

I’ve always been quite a fan of the screens in modern-day Audis. It shows off the big difference between having a big screen for the sake of it versus actually putting in the hardware to make a screen quick and reliable.

The Q3 is no different. A 12.8-inch infotainment screen pops beautiful colours at a rapid rate. I can’t touch on how it is to live with too much because I didn’t get the chance to really put it through its paces, but Apple CarPlay connected wired and wirelessly seemed to stay connected the entire time while driving.

It’s a similar story for the 11.9-inch instrument cluster, which has plenty of colour and can be configured as cluttered or minimalist as you like by clicking one button on the steering wheel to switch through presets.

Having a fast screen is still not a good enough excuse to put the climate controls on the screen; something that is a fast-dying trend. It doesn’t make a lot of sense when you look around the cabin and find it clear that Audi engineers have a love affair with levers and buttons, so what was the problem with having a separate panel with some temperature controls?

Anything more than one tap to change climate controls is too many, and that’s the case for things such as fan speed and other sections.

The Audi brand continues to excel in chassis design, and the Q3 continues that lineage of surprisingly excellent-handling cars.

Spending the majority of my time on twisting roads, all three trim levels managed to stay well composed while seemingly hiding the fact that it’s an SUV. Settling well over bumps, providing a straightforward turn-in and mid-corner experience with a lack of body roll, and not a hint of resistance from the tyres.

This is helped by the addition of adaptive dampers on all Launch Edition vehicles and on all of the cars I drove at the launch. It’s a cool system for a small SUV. Without getting too technical, it uses two solenoids in each shock to adjust rebound and compression, essentially firming or softening the system based on the road conditions and the driving mode you are in.

There is a noticeable difference in suspension feel between Comfort and Dynamic, even though both complement the car well through twisting roads. Comfort seems to attack bumps and potholes more subtly than the sporty modes.

Its compliance and comfort continues to show how it handles itself around city roads. For those coming from another brand, you may notice that the steering sits on the heavier side, but it's intuitive by centring itself when exiting turns, while still being light enough that it’s not tiresome to drive in tight carparks.

The gearbox is the same across all three engine choices; a seven-speed DCT that behaves a lot better than some other Volkswagen Group gearboxes. With that being said, I’ve found that dual-clutch offerings from the German brands tend to be confusing and clunky at low speeds, which is something I didn’t have much of an opportunity to test.

In terms of dynamics and comfort, the rest of the car is passable. The brake pedal feels linear, and the accelerator across all three power levels handles itself well with a predictable feeling.

While all three variants did have road noise making its way into the cabin, the majority could be heard with the 20-inch wheel versions – likely due to a smaller tyre aspect ratio and less sidewall to soak up the noise. Similarly, wind noise could be heard about 80km/h, though not unbearable.

The last shared thing across all trim levels is the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which include things such as an active front assist with AEB, swerve assist, front turn assist, and cross-traffic assist, lane-assist systems in tandem with adaptive cruise control, speed sign recognition, blind-spot sensors, and even an auto parking system you can train to undertake five different parking manoeuvres.

In my short time with the car, all systems worked unobtrusively, but Audi has given us a godsend. The majority of the systems can be switched off and will stay off each time you start the car – that means no annoying bings and bongs if you don’t want them.

Finally, the powertrains. The 195kW is new for 2026, thereby (seemingly) replacing the RSQ3. Whether this will be the substitute or not is yet to be announced, but this engine is certainly worth the extra money.

From a performance standpoint, it's got the go to make it exciting. But even from a commuting perspective, it makes life a little more effortless than its lower power trims. There’s a lot less complaining from the engine when pushed, and it suits the borderline over-engineered chassis super well.

Obviously, the trade-off for power comes in the form of fuel consumption. An 8.1 litres per 100 kilometres WLTP claim makes it the thirstiest of the bunch, though we did not spend enough time in the car to get an accurate economy test.

The 150kW sees a happy medium. This would be my choice if I were uninterested in performance but wanted a premium-driving small SUV. Mixed with the fact the Q3 complements the quattro driveline so well, but you don’t need to be driving at 10-tenths to respect it, makes the front-wheel-drive offering almost defunct.

Still, 150kW is more than enough for the car to feel relatively effortless around town. A combined claim of 7.3L/100km doesn’t make it a lot more fuel-efficient when compared to the top spec, but a discount of $11,700 over the 195kW would be the deciding factor for most.

Finally, the 110kW was by far the least complementary of the chassis. Not just from an equipment perspective, but from a dynamic point of view too.

Doing away with the quattro system dramatically changes the way this car behaves around town, with front-wheel chirps from a standstill plus a lot less effortlessness from the engine.

That extra hard-working nature obviously comes from the 500cc less it has over its higher-specification brothers. Still, the 110kW takes away a lot more from the luxury experience than I would’ve expected.

While there is an $8600 difference between the 110kW and 150kW, it is worth spending the extra 14 per cent to get into an engine choice that really works well for this chassis.

I tend to get a bit nervous when historically good models go into their next generation, as it always makes or breaks the history of the model. Luckily, Audi has the formula down-pat to secure this model as a top seller for the brand here.

If you’re looking for a luxury small SUV, the new Q3 needs to be on your list, but I highly suggest the 150kW or 195kW.

While I would’ve loved to drive one without adaptive dampers, I can imagine how much better this car is with them fitted considering how compliant it is. You only have a few months until it’ll only be the 195kW with them fitted. Otherwise, it’s a special order with pricing not specified.

Comparing the BMW X1 M Sport 1.5L FWD from $70,162 plus on-roads with the 150kW quattro for around the same price, I dare say it trumps it quite well on the specifications sheet.

But, a top-specification Volvo XC40 Ultra Dark from $62,990 plus on-roads or even a top-specification Cupra Terramar VZ from $73,490 drive-away might make for a bit harder of a decision.

I highly recommend checking out these two options before checking out a Q3. Although, ending up with a 150kW or 195kW 2026 Q3 over anything else in this segment would not lead to a regrettable purchase.

Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.

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