How does Audi's performance SUV go against a race track and a race driver? Chris Atkinson takes the 2021 Audi RSQ3 and pits it against the clock at Queensland Raceway to see how quick this luxury SUV is!
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#audi #rsq3 #review
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#audi #rsq3 #review
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MotorTranscript
00:00 Hey guys, Chris here from CarExpert and we're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:04 Today we've got the Audi RS Q3, our first SUV, a small one at that, but the first SUV
00:10 on the track.
00:11 It's a 5 cylinder, which sounds awesome actually, 5 cylinder turbo with 294 kilowatts and 480
00:17 newton metres of torque, right down at 1900 RPM, so that should be useful.
00:20 7 speed dual clutch transmission and obviously the quattro all wheel drive system.
00:25 Interested to see how fast this is.
00:27 First we'll do the 0-100 and then the braking test and then we'll get on the track and do
00:31 some fast laps and see how quick she goes.
00:50 So initial impressions, first the steering wheel, I love it.
00:54 It's spot on, Alcantara finish, really nice shape for your thumbs and the flat bottom
01:01 which is just a nice cool looking wheel.
01:04 Paddles seem in a good position, no issue there at all.
01:08 Seating position's alright, I would hope for maybe a bit deeper bucket, it's just maybe
01:13 like I'm sitting on top of the seat a little bit more than I would like and also a little
01:18 bit on top of the car, I'd like to be a little bit down and back lower, but also being an
01:23 SUV you do feel a little bit higher than normal so that's a bit unnerving to be honest
01:30 but should be okay.
01:33 Steering feels decent but just a bit light initially, it'd be interesting to see how
01:37 that feedback is as we build up the pace, see if we gain any more.
01:41 The brake pedal, not bad but got that feeling again which we've had in the Audis of it does
01:51 more than I want, it's not as linear as some of the other cars when you push the pedal
01:56 you'll ask and you'll ask more and then it grabs a lot more and I want more modulation
02:01 control so slight negative there.
02:06 That engine does sound pretty cool.
02:07 Now 7-speed dual clutch, these have worked pretty well in the past on the track so shouldn't
02:14 be an issue, it'd just be interesting to see whether that high centre of gravity hurts
02:17 a lot or whether it's able to manage the roll and control that through the corners.
02:24 I am just moving around a little bit in the seat and for a pretty sporty and performance
02:30 car I would have hoped for a little bit more lateral support.
02:33 So let's try and do a lap and see how quick she goes.
02:48 [00:04:21] [Silence]
03:05 [00:04:50]
03:20 So there you go Audi RS Q3, actually a pretty good lap time, I managed a 59.9 at best and
03:49 interestingly I did it with the suspension in the slightly softer setting so not in the
03:55 full dynamic mode, I did it in what's called the balanced suspension mode.
04:01 So I stepped out, I just found I lost a little grip with the stiffer setting, the car wasn't
04:06 moving enough to build grip, it was just more sliding on top of the surface so it was nice
04:11 to figure that out and gained about half a second by doing that and the car was actually
04:16 easier to drive, a bit more mobile, a bit more dynamic.
04:20 Generally a lot of good things but nothing absolutely amazing as you'd expect.
04:26 The engine in the top end is actually really good, when you're in the right rev range it
04:30 works awesome but if you're a bit below that it takes a little bit of time to build up
04:35 power, build up speed, just feels like a bit of lag there and I had a bit of trouble with
04:40 the downshifts as well with the gearbox, it just didn't quite respond when I wanted to
04:44 and if I went for too early a shift, sometimes it would take three shifts to get the engine
04:49 to change gears where there it did it no problem at all which is a bit strange, I don't understand
04:53 why when you're driving around normal it doesn't know a problem yet if you're doing it when
04:58 you're pushing it doesn't respond how I'd like.
05:02 Traction wasn't an issue at all, I ran with all ESC off, traction control off and never
05:06 had an issue so obviously the Quattro system works really well there.
05:09 I would say with this system which can send 70% of the torque to the rear, I still feel
05:17 like it's a little bit biased towards a front drive feeling of the car that it's not really
05:22 driving from the rear at any point in terms of a balance change so it still has that slightly
05:29 understeer balance even on throttle even though the traction bonus is there, the balance benefit's
05:35 not there in terms of the power distribution.
05:38 Steering was okay, no big issues, feedback wasn't too bad, it's light but the feedback
05:43 was okay, I knew when I was at the edge of the grip and although I would like a bit more
05:47 feedback I didn't think it really hurt my lap time overall.
05:51 Really this car is going to be good on some back roads, it's actually quite pointy, I
05:56 like the front end feeling, it felt quite nimble and reactive from the front when you
06:00 did small movements, small change of directions, corner entry, that all felt really good, it
06:05 was more on the longer corners where it struggled a bit more and to be fair that's a thing you
06:10 find with a lot of road cars when you come to a track, they're going to struggle more
06:13 on the longer corners, that's not what they're designed for, they're designed for shorter
06:16 radius corners like you'd find on a normal road and I think in that situation you can
06:20 have a lot of fun in this car.
06:22 So there you go guys, the Audi RS Q3, our first SUV on the track and it did a pretty
06:29 good job, cracking the minute mark which is pretty impressive for a small car.
06:34 Now overall it wasn't perfect in all areas but it did a pretty good job out there, engine
06:39 sounded amazing and the chassis handled it all pretty well as well.
06:43 My top three tips are, first you've got to be a bit careful in balancing the car because
06:47 it does have a tendency to understeer even though it's all wheel drive, so be cautious
06:50 of that, if you push too hard you'll see some understeer.
06:53 Also being in the right gear is very important, the engine is strong up top but missing a
06:58 bit of response down low, so make sure you're in the right gear and that brings to me my
07:01 final point, you've got to be careful with the downshifts, it doesn't like you to shift
07:05 too early so you've got to wait and be patient with that, something I wasn't very good at.
07:09 Overall this is going to be a fun car on the road, maybe not quite as suited to the track
07:12 but you'll have a lot of fun out on some twisty roads.
07:14 Hope you guys enjoyed the video, if you did hit the like button and don't forget to subscribe,
07:18 lots of great content coming in 2021 so look forward to that and let us know what you'd
07:23 like to see on the track as well.