2021 Audi RSQ3 track test and performance review
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, Chris here from Car Expert and we're back at Queensland Raceway, our test track.
00:04Today we've got the Audi RSQ3, our first SUV, a small one at that, but the first SUV on
00:10the track.
00:11It's a five cylinder, which sounds awesome actually, five cylinder turbo with 294 kilowatts
00:16and 480 newtons of torque, right down at 1,900 RPM.
00:19So that should be useful.
00:21Seven speed dual clutch transmission and obviously the quattro all wheel drive system.
00:25Interested to see how fast this is, first we'll do the zero to a hundred and then the
00:29braking test and then we'll get on the track and do some fast laps and see how quick she
00:33goes.
00:51So initial impressions, first the steering wheel, I love it, it's spot on, Alcantara
00:57finish, really nice shape for your thumbs and the flat bottom, which is just a nice
01:03cool looking wheel, paddles seem in a good position, no issue there at all.
01:08Seating position's alright, I would hope for maybe a bit deeper bucket, it's just maybe
01:13like I'm sitting on top of the seat a little bit more than I would like and also a little
01:18bit on top of the car, I'd like to be a little bit down and back lower, but also being an
01:24SUV you do feel a little bit higher than normal, so that's a bit unnerving to be honest,
01:30but should be okay.
01:32Steering feels decent, but just a bit light initially, I'd be interested to see how that
01:37feedback is as we build up the pace, see if we gain any more.
01:42The brake pedal, not bad, but got that feeling again which we've had in the Audis of it does
01:51more than I want, it's not as linear as some of the other cars, when you push the pedal
01:56you'll ask and you'll ask more and then it grabs a lot more, and I want more modulation
02:01control so slight negative there, that engine does sound pretty cool.
02:08Now 7-speed dual clutch, these have worked pretty well in the past on the track so shouldn't
02:14be an issue, I'd just be interested to see whether that high centre of gravity hurts
02:17a lot or whether it's able to manage the roll and control that through the corners.
02:25I am just moving around a little bit in the seat and for a pretty sporty and performance
02:30car I would have hoped for a little bit more lateral support, so let's try and do a lap
02:35and see how quick she goes.
03:17So there you go, Audi RS Q3, actually a pretty good lap time.
03:47I managed a 59.9 at best and interestingly I did it with the suspension in the slightly
03:53softer settings, so not in the full dynamic mode, I did it in what's called the balanced
03:59suspension mode.
04:01So I stepped out, I just found I lost a little grip with the stiffer setting, the car wasn't
04:07moving enough to build grip, it was just more sliding on top of the surface so it was nice
04:12to figure that out and gained about half a second by doing that and the car was actually
04:16easier to drive, a bit more mobile, a bit more dynamic, generally a lot of good things
04:22but nothing absolutely amazing as you'd expect.
04:26The engine in the top end is actually really good, when you're in the right rev range it
04:31works awesome but if you're a bit below that it takes a little bit of time to build up
04:35power, build up speed, just feels like a bit of lag there and I had a bit of trouble with
04:40the downshifts as well with the gearbox, it just didn't quite respond when I wanted to
04:44and if I went for too early a shift, sometimes it would take three shifts to get the engine
04:49to change gears, where there it did it no problem at all, which is a bit strange, I
04:52don't understand why when you're driving around normal it doesn't no problem, yet
04:57if you're doing it when you're pushing it doesn't respond how I'd like.
05:01Traction wasn't an issue at all, I ran with all ESC off, traction control off and never
05:06had an issue so obviously the Quattro system works really well there.
05:10I would say with this system which can send 70% of the torque to the rear, I still feel
05:17like it's a little bit biased towards a front drive feeling of the car that it's not really
05:22driving from the rear at any point in terms of a balance change, so it still has that
05:29slightly understeer balance even on throttle, even though the traction bonus is there, the
05:34balance benefit's not there in terms of the power distribution.
05:38Steering was okay, no big issues, feedback wasn't too bad, it's light but the feedback
05:44was okay, I knew when I was at the edge of the grip and although I would like a bit more
05:47feedback, I didn't think it really hurt my lap time overall.
05:51Really this car is going to be good on some back roads, it's actually quite pointy, I
05:56like the front end feeling, it felt quite nimble and reactive from the front when you
06:01did small movements, small change of directions, corner entry, that all felt really good, it
06:05was more on the longer corners where I struggled a bit more and to be fair, that's a thing
06:10you find with a lot of road cars when you come to a track, they're going to struggle
06:13more on the longer corners, that's not what they're designed for, they're designed for
06:16shorter radius corners like you'd find on a normal road and I think in that situation
06:20you're going to have a lot of fun in this car.
06:24So there you go guys, the Audi RS Q3, our first SUV on the track and it did a pretty
06:30good job, cracking the minute mark which is pretty impressive for a small car.
06:34Now overall it wasn't perfect in all areas but it did a pretty good job out there, engine
06:39sounded amazing and the chassis handled it all pretty well as well.
06:43My top three tips are, first you've got to be a bit careful in balancing the car because
06:47it does have a tendency to understeer even though it's all-wheel drive, so be cautious
06:50of that, if you push too hard you'll see some understeer.
06:53Also being in the right gear is very important, the engine is strong up top but missing a
06:58bit of response down low, so make sure you're in the right gear and that brings me to my
07:01final point, you've got to be careful with the downshifts, it doesn't like you to shift
07:05too early so you've got to wait and be patient with that, something I wasn't very good at.
07:09Overall this is going to be a fun car on the road, maybe not quite as suited to the track
07:12but you'll have a lot of fun out on some twisty roads.
07:15Hope you guys enjoyed the video, if you did hit the like button and don't forget to subscribe,
07:18lots of great content coming in 2021 so look forward to that and let us know what you'd
07:23like to see on the track as well.