Only a person who couldn’t see that the Simpsons were yellow would have failed to notice that the yellow of the Audi Q2 that was with us last week was a bit obtrusive. Guilty on both counts.
Neil Lyndon reviews the Audi Q2, the smaller SUV in the massive Audi range.
Yes, truly, I had been watching the Simpsons on and off for more than 20 years before a child of mine surprised me by observing that all the main characters were a funny shade of yellow. And, yes, every member of my family except me shrank like a wilting daffodil from the glaring Vegas yellow of the 2.0 TDI Quattro Audi Q2 that came to us on loan. When I took them to school in this car, my children insisted on being dropped off where nobody would see them. When my wife drove it to work, she parked where none of her colleagues would see her opening the door to get out. I didn’t turn a hair. It’s not that I am colour blind, but something about colour doesn’t entirely get through to me.
To give me credit, I did notice things about the Q2 that others seem to have overlooked – and not just my family. No review of the Q2 that I have read points out that the body pressings on this car are so complex and many-faceted that they might have wiped out a month’s profits for the VW Group in a single run of the production line. From the wheel arches to the bonnet creases, hardly a square inch of the surface of this car isn’t refracted against another. It’s a tour-de-force of design and production. Shame nobody cares.
Evidently, Audi felt they needed to make some effort to distinguish this compact SUV from the A3 Sportback on which it is extensively based. The yellow might have been one such effort. The body pressings are another. Different strokes, you might say.
Having recently borrowed an S-line A3 for a couple of days, I would have to say that the conversion to a crossover SUV works far better in the Q2 than anybody has a right to expect. The suspension has been stiffened to compensate for the extra height and mass of the body to the point where the ride might be a fraction firm for some. But, seeing as I like to set the suspension to “Dynamic” and put the seven-speed S-tronic dual clutch transmission into “Sport”, a touch on the firm side is exactly what these posteriors favour.
In that set-up, the Q2 gives a pretty fair account of itself.
Acceleration from 0-60 seconds in fractionally under eight seconds isn’t going to pull up any trees but it signifies that the 150bhp turbocharged two-litre engine with 340Nm of torque can provide an entertaining drive on empty country roads like the ones I enjoy around my home in Scotland.
Meanwhile, the Q2 has a loadspace under the hatch more like a Skoda Kodiaq than an Audi A3 and space in the rear seats for three sizeable teenagers; so this is a perfectly effective family car as well as a nifty drive.
Our test car seemed to get into a dither over its hill start and its stop-start engine systems with the unfortunate result that the car would first lag to get going and then lurch across a junction. Otherwise, there was nothing not to like about this car except its all-in price about the same as a primary head teacher’s annual salary.
And of course its colour. But I didn’t notice that...call me Homer.
Car reviewed: Audi Q2 2.0 TDI quattro 150PS S-line S tronic - Base Price On the road £33,745 price with options as tested £40,505 0-62mph 8.1 secs Top speed 131mph Fuel Economy combined 58.9mpg CO2 emissions 129g/km Engine 1968cc 4-cylinder DOHC turbo EU6 Max Power 200bhp@3000rpm Torque 470Nm@1500rpm Transmission 7-speed S tonic dual clutch transmission
The sharpness of the design
Quite expensive but highly specced
A sporty but firm ride
There nothing really not to like
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