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By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 89

If you crave a small SUV with super sportscar-style performance from the 2020-2025 period, then Audi thinks you'll like this F3-era RS Q3, which was offered in both standard and stylish Sportback forms. This is the quickest you'll probably ever want to go in any kind of SUV - and there's an emotive five cylinder soundtrack too. If you've outgrown hot hatches, don't need a huge amount of interior space and want something very rapid that's fashionable yet practical, then this RSUV might be just what you're looking for.

Modelsword count: 6

5dr SUV (2.5 TFSI) [standard,Sport Edition,Vorsprung])

Historyword count: 186

The very first Audi SUV to get the brand's full-sporting RS treatment was this one, the RS Q3. The original model was launched back in 2013 and started what is now a growing trend for high performance compact SUVs. In first and second generation forms, it featured the brand's classic 2.5-litre five cylinder turbo petrol engine borrowed from the company's TT RS sports car. But whereas in the original RS Q3, that unit put out 340PS, in the MK2 model we look at here it develops 400PS. At the time of this F3-era RS Q3 model's launch in 2019, that extra power was needed to take on cars like the Turbo and GTS versions of Porsche's Macan, BMW's X3 M40i and the Mercedes-AMG GLA 45. Plus potential buyers were also looking at cars like the Volkswagen T-ROC R, the CUPRA Ateca and the BMW X2 M35i. To give the RS Q3 the widest possible appeal in this company, Audi offered it with two body styles - this standard Q3 shape and the alternative sleeker RS Q3 Sportback variant. The MK2 F3-era RS Q3 sold until mid-2025.

What You Getword count: 460

The F3-era Q3's squat, slightly conservative styling gets a shot in the arm with this RS model. At the front, the car's RS genes are apparent in the flat slits above the borderless Singleframe radiator grille, which has a three-dimensional gloss black honeycomb structure and is inset deeply into the RS bumper with its large side air inlets and striking boomerang-shaped blades. Depending on version, the car features either LED headlights or Matrix LED headlights with dynamic indicators and RS-specific darkened trims. In profile, you'll notice the pronounced wheel arches, which are flared by 10mm and shroud the huge 20-inch 10-spoke star alloy wheels that are exclusive to this variant (even larger 21-inch rims were optional). If you've got a car whose original owner specified the optional ceramic brakes, they'll be designated by evocative red calipers. With its sloping coupe-like roof line, the RS Q3 Sportback sits lower than the RS Q3 SUV, and its rising shoulder line is set further down than in its sister car, lowering the body's optical centre of gravity. At the rear, there are piercing LED tail lamps and you get an RS-specific bumper with a rear diffuser and horizontal blades in matt aluminium. Many original buyers spent more on the optional dual-branch RS exhaust system, which has large oval tailpipes on both sides and chrome-coloured trims. If you've got a car whose owner specified the optional 'Black Styling Pack', the Audi rings will be finished in gloss black. Drop inside and you'll spot more RS accents. The RS sport leather steering wheel, flattened at the bottom, includes bespoke shift paddles and multifunction buttons that allow the driver to control the two RS modes in the Audi drive select dynamic handling system. Through this wheel, you view the standard Audi 'virtual cockpit plus' instrument binnacle screen. This incorporates a shift light display that prompts the driver to upshift when the maximum engine speed is reached, and also special RS displays providing information on tyre pressure, torque, power output, lap times, g-forces and acceleration measurements. Elsewhere around the cabin, the centre stack, as with other Q3 variants, is trimmed in high gloss piano black and features a 10.1-inch MMI Navigation Plus central touchscreen. In the back, as usual with a compact SUV, the rear bench is comfortable for two adults - but rather tight for the carriage of three. Still, it helps that it can slide fore and aft by up to 150mm in this Q3 (or by up to 130mm in the alternative Q3 Sportback). Plus the three-way split backrests can be tilted in seven stages. The luggage compartment holds 530 litres with either body style. And with the 40:20:40-split backrest folded down, the figure rises to 1,525 litres (or 1,400-litres in the Sportback variant).

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