- Handsome interior
- Good safety scorecard
- Wireless Apple CarPlay
- Spacious interior
- Good powertrain
- Conservative exterior
- Too big for tight cities?
- Compromised rearward vision
- Spendy crossover
BUYING TIP
- The Q3 Premium Plus makes available options that we’d prefer to have on a luxury utility vehicle. Go there and go all out.
The 2021 Audi Q3 is bulky but not brash, with good tech and space inside for passengers and gear.
We’re keen on small crossovers like the 2021 Audi Q3, and by looking at the road outside our windows, everyone else is too.
This year, the Q3 returns and it’s largely the same as last year, except the price. The 2021 Audi Q3 nets a 6.7 TCC Rating, propelled by good safety scores and standard features.
Audi offers Premium and Premium Plus versions of the Q3, starting from $36,995. New this year is a standard sporty appearance package (which was optional last year) and a small shuffle among features.
What hasn’t changed? The Q3’s big proportions compared to others in its class, and its sedate style that we think will wear well. The Q3 relies on the same 2.0-liter turbo-4 that makes 228 horsepower teamed to an 8-speed automatic and all-wheel drive.
The Q3’s best gifts are inside, where it’s comfortable and svelte despite its 2-ton heft. Rear seat passengers get more than 36 inches of leg room, which is admirable among its contemporaries. Behind the rear seats, the Q3 holds up to 23.7 cubic feet of cargo (with the rear seats slid back for more passenger comfort that figure drops to 18.7 cubic feet). With the seats down that space expands to 48 cubic feet, which in our testing was only hampered by a stylish roofline that descends toward the rear liftgate.
The IIHS called it a Top Safety Pick+ last year and we expect that rating to carry over soon. In addition to top safety scores, the Q3 gets standard automatic emergency braking and lane-departure warnings to complement those crash-test scores.
If $40,000 makes you wince for Audi’s smallest crossover, perhaps its bigger size over the competition will cushion the blow?
Styling
The 2021 Q3’s style is on the QT, good or bad.
It won’t raise many pulses but won’t raise many eyebrows either. The 2021 Audi Q3 doesn’t change much from a reboot just a couple years ago; this year an S Line appearance package that adds sportier wheels and aluminum accents is standard that was optional last year.
Starting from an average score, the Q3 gets one point above the mean for a handsome interior. It’s a 6.
The exterior is crisp and clean, not too many bad angles at all—even though there aren’t many angles anyway. We like the Q3’s big grille and bigger wheels to fill the arches, which helps give the bulky SUV some athleticism.
Inside, the Q3 shows off better in elegant materials and a flush touchscreen that “hides” when the car is turned off. (It really just fades to black like the rest of the dash.)
It’s subtle but stylish, and the antidote to wall-of-screen SUVs that hit us with more to look at than walking into Graceland.
Performance
Power is ample and ready in the 2021 Q3.
In terms of powertrain, the 2021 Audi Q3 does all of the thinking for you. That’s probably a good thing. Picking out a color for your Q3? Another story.
Just one engine, one transmission, and one way to drive the wheels is available this year; luckily for shoppers, they’re all good.
Starting from an average score, the Q3 gets points above average for its tight handling and spunky turbo-4. It’s a 7 for performance.
The engine pairs up to an 8-speed automatic and all-wheel drive on every model that sashays its way into our good graces with fat chunks of power despite its small size. Audi says the Q3 accelerates from 0-60 mph in 7.0 seconds, which is impressive for the chunky crossover.
It handles well, and we’ve found that it can dart around town without much of a fuss. Its turning circle is relatively small too, which is a boon for “where are we going?” moments that always tend to come up.
Despite its big standard 18- or 19-inch wheels, the Q3 is collected on crappy roads, which is something that few competitors can tout.
Comfort & Quality
Audi’s smallest crossover is still big, and that’s better for cargo and people.
Small crossovers are harder to nail down like good cheese or great wine—sometimes it’s a matter of taste.
The 2021 Audi Q3 is bigger than competitors, which helps space but could be troublesome for city dwellers looking for a smaller ride to park in narrow spaces.
We give the Q3 a 7 for comfort thanks to its comfy rear seats and good cargo space.
The rear seats will comfortably fit two adults, including 36.1 inches of rear seat leg room. The rear bench slides fore and aft a few inches for better comfort or cargo space and the rear seat back tumbles down easily.
With the rear seats up, and pushed all the way back for more leg room, the Q3 holds 18.7 cubic feet of cargo. Slide the second row up and that space grows to 23.7 cubic feet, although there’s a small cargo moat between the floor and seat backs that would just love to hide smaller items. With the rear seats folded, the Q3 holds 48 cubes of cargo, which is bigger than the Mercedes-Benz GLA Class but smaller than the BMW X1.
The Q3 impresses with its materials and finishes right down to the base version but spending more nets more.
Safety
The 2021 Q3 has an enviable safety scorecard.
Stellar safety ratings and good available options slingshot the 2021 Audi Q3 up our safety scale. Federal testers gave it five stars overall, including four stars for front- and rollover-crash safety, and the IIHS called it a Top Safety Pick+ last year, which we expect to carry over this year.
Those scores, combined with standard automatic emergency braking and lane-departure warnings, net the Q3 a 9 for safety. Only compromised outward vision, which is common on boxy crossovers like the Q3, keeps it from perfection. (Blind-spot monitors are available and recommended.)
Other additional safety features include optional surround-view camera systems and adaptive cruise control, which can speed up or slow down the car on highways. Active lane control is available, and Audi’s system performs well. It keeps the Q3 centered in its lane without pinballing from side to side.
Features
It’s not cheap, but the 2021 Q3 is better equipped than many other small crossovers.
We’re not math majors, so you’ll have to excuse the following funky formula: The 2021 Q3’s addition by subtraction nets nearly the same car that was offered last year.
The top Q3 Prestige is gone for now and that’s a shame because we thought it was the one to get. What’s left is Q3 Premium and Q3 Premium Plus that costs $36,995 and $40,295 to start, respectively.
Base cars get a 10.3-inch digital instrument cluster, an 8.8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, active safety features (covered above) heated front seats, 18-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, leather upholstery, and LED headlights. That’s good equipment, especially the touchscreen, and the Q3 gets a 7 for features.
The step up Q3 Premium Plus adds adaptive cruise control, LED interior lights and more available options including premium audio, bigger wheels, a surround-view camera system, and interior upgrades. At more than $40,000 before options, it’s a big ask, but the Q3 Premium Plus is bigger than most of its competitors and nearly as useful as size-up crossovers that command much more money.
Wireless Apple CarPlay is included on all Q3s now and it is heaven-sent. Not only is it safer to connect your phone then stash it in the armrest, but also Audi’s wireless charger can boost your signal. It’s the best of both worlds, and Audi’s Apple CarPlay presentation is slick and uses the whole screen. Bully for Audi.
Fuel Economy
For a small crossover, the 2021 Q3 needs a lot of fuel.
For a small crossover, the 2021 Audi Q3 returns disappointing fuel economy; the size-up Q5 even rates higher according to the EPA.
Official data isn’t yet available for 2021, but based on the crossover’s similarities with last year’s version, we feel confident carrying over those scores.
With just one powertrain, the EPA says all Q3s rate 19 mpg city, 27 highway, 22 combined. That’s 4 on our scale.
The good news? The Q3 doesn’t ask for premium fuel, the others do.
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