[Mr c]

This last week I've never been more grateful for the Goodyear Vector 4Seasons tyres I've banged on about for the last couple of years. Here in the bottom righthand corner of Boris Kingdom Storm Darcy has been playing merry he11 with the roads and unfortunately I have to make a 60-mile round trip daily this week, ferrying Mrs G to and from hospital. Yesterday we had the lot, driving snow, packed snow, drifts and black ice, at various points, and apart from the odd moment of unusual interest on black ice the car simply stayed planted, went where it was pointed and gripped surprisingly well in all conditions.

With the advent of good all-seasons tyres from Goodyear, Michelin and others it's now hard to argue for anything else for UK use. They don't even carry that much pf a price premium now.

Good job you had the four wheel drive and them tyres with such important journeys to make, touching on this subject and speaking as someone who has gone through radiation treatment last year a little tip I can give you and your good lady is stay positive and don’t dwell on it, easy to say but harder to do, the minute you start thinking the worse you both become more stressed and she will make herself ill. Good luck with the rest of her treatment 👍

 

[Gromit]

Ouch. I also was around then Perusal, having just moved from West Kent to East Kent. Thankfully I don't have to contend with Bluebell Hill this week but Detling Hill is a bit interesting right now as you can well imagine!

Thanks for your good thoughts Mr C. You're right of course and we're taking it a day at a time.

 

[AudiBill]

That looks a real treat, we nearly ordered the Navarro blue ourselves after seeing one online in a showroom but when we went to order the only car the had in that colour was outside in the car park it was a dull day and it didn‘t really look nothing like that, It seemed to look darker.
We settled for the Daytona grey in the end, had there been a blue one in the showroom I think I would have ordered that colour 😂 Must admit was a bit disappointed with Audi’s current colour choice available.
Considered the red but as said plumbed for the grey,our current Q2 at The minute is Quatum grey and anthracite which I love so not a massive colour change, hope I don‘t live regret it.

Daytona is a great colour, it really sparkles in the sunlight. When I went to order my only previous Audi, an S3 saloon, in 2016 it was Daytona I chose but after having several issues with a * dealer I found a Navarra at another dealer that was a cancelled order so went with that instead. If I was ordering new again it would be a toss up between Daytona and Navarra.

 

[AudiBill]

Welcome aboard Sir!

Of all the Audi colours in the current options list Navarra Blue would be my 1st choice.

The X3 M40i is a flying machine for sure, in the RSQ3 class and yeah around town it takes no effort at all to get below 20 mpg.

In all the euphoria though I do have to add a sobering note of caution - a Q3, especially with the additional Quattro drive train is quite a heavy, probably around 1800Kg car and the 4 pot 2 litre lump sticks out about 350Nm of torque.

So genuine, real world (calculated at the pumps, not by the Q3), fuel economy around town will be in low 20s and in the 30s on a longer run. If you read the posts the 2.0 Litre engine needs working hard (will seem harsh, coarse after the '6 in the M40i) talk of using the paddles in 'Manual mode' to make decent progress and that ruins fuel economy. I fear that whilst you'll love all the tech (we will help you get that set up) you'll be deeply disappointed with the drive based on what you have driven previously.

Thanks for the welcome and your useful comments re the drive coming from the M40i.

The driving dynamic was an important consideration for me but after several fairly powerful cars I decided to go for something a little more ''sedate'' this time and 230bhp will be about right for me. I change my cars often, this will be my 12th in under 15 years and I rarely/never buy the same model more than once. I love trying out different cars/makes/models/power/4wd,fwd,rwd etc and comparing them. Some I really enjoy and others not so much but I don't do pcp (unless it's very short term to take advantage of any discount) so I can chop and change when I want.
When I bought the M40i I had a long test drive in a Q3 45 TFSI Vorsprung and I had narrowed it down to the two but went for the BMW due to the deal I was being offered as I was part-ex another BMW (m140i). So after having the BMW for a year it's now the turn of the Q3, could be long term or short term, time will tell .
My neighbours certainly won't be sad to see the M40i go - the start up noise from the straight 6, especially in cold mornings has been known to wake a few of them

 

[RSQ3John]

[

Thanks for the welcome and your useful comments re the drive coming from the M40i.

The driving dynamic was an important consideration for me but after several fairly powerful cars I decided to go for something a little more ''sedate'' this time and 230bhp will be about right for me. I change my cars often, this will be my 12th in under 15 years and I rarely/never buy the same model more than once. I love trying out different cars/makes/models/power/4wd,fwd,rwd etc and comparing them. Some I really enjoy and others not so much but I don't do pcp (unless it's very short term to take advantage of any discount) so I can chop and change when I want.
When I bought the M40i I had a long test drive in a Q3 45 TFSI Vorsprung and I had narrowed it down to the two but went for the BMW due to the deal I was being offered as I was part-ex another BMW (m140i). So after having the BMW for a year it's now the turn of the Q3, could be long term or short term, time will tell .
My neighbours certainly won't be sad to see the M40i go - the start up noise from the straight 6, especially in cold mornings has been known to wake a few of them

Thanks and from one serial car changer to another too - though I'd like to think the current RS will be the last IC engine powered vehicle I'll own. Like you I don't do PCP other than very short term to leverage any offers that might be available, I have become an Audi fan in recent years, the 'made right 1st time', rare visits to the dealer outside of servicing has a lot to do with it. Enjoy the Q3, the design contains a numerous thoughtful touches.

 

[Gromit]

My neighbours certainly won't be sad to see the M40i go - the start up noise from the straight 6, especially in cold mornings has been known to wake a few of them

I had a neighbour who for years annoyed the whole road by leaving for work early every morning accompanied by much revving of his hot hatch plus the odd squeal of tortured tyres. After putting up with it for far too long I eventually had the opportunity of turning the tables on him. My youngest brother is/was an American car nut and had the offer of a '72 Pontiac Trans-Am Firebird with a 454cu in powerplant and asked me for help buying it. I agreed a short-term loan on the condition that he brought the car down and stayed overnight... (You can see where this is going, can't you?)

Next morning, extremely bright and early, he went out and started the car... Well, if you've ever heard an American muscle car start from cold you'll know what the noise was like. After "warming it up" for a good five minutes he departed, leaving rubber on the road for a good twenty yards as he passed the offending neighbour's house.

The neighbour left half an hour later, as quiet as a mouse and never woke anyone again.

 

[AudiBill]

Dealer had it looking good for pick up this morning and had a nice relaxed 100 mile journey home. Stopped of about halfway to have a little play about with things 😂

 

[RSQ3John]

Looking great! Seeing the VC display reminds me that I'd pondered creating a thread where we could compare the respective VCs - RS and regular - they appear to be the same in some respects and very different in others.

 

[Gromit]

Looks exceeding good, that's a really great colour!

 

[Mr c]

Looking good Bill notice you haven’t got the nav maps right across your VS? it was set on the one we test drove had to take it off straight away far to busy for me but very impressive nevertheless enjoy.

 

[RSQ3John]

You have lots of choices Mr C - the left hand buttons on the steering wheel manage all of that.

 

[Mr c]

You have lots of choices Mr C - the left hand buttons on the steering wheel manage all of that.

Cheers John if only I had left hand buttons to play with 😂

 

[AudiBill]

Looking good Bill notice you haven’t got the nav maps right across your VS? it was set on the one we test drove had to take it off straight away far to busy for me but very impressive nevertheless enjoy.

Thanks, I much prefer the bigger dials being on display. As for Sat Nav - I live in the West Highlands of Scotland so no real need for it as there's not a lot of roads to go wrong on . I do use it if I go on a day out to the big city but not much chance of that these days . I did miss the HUD from the BMW on the drive home.

 

[RSQ3John]

HUD - yeah with you there, was the only feature of the RS4 I missed...knowing Audi there will be a facelift F3.5 Q3 revision and it will be an option...

 

[mwcltd]

I think an HUD is a personal thing. I drove a BMW with one and I found it a distraction. But, like everything else, I could get acclimatised over time.

 

[RSQ3John]

It's strange - an RR with a heated front screen...once I'd seen the heating elements I couldn't stop looking at it. The RS4 HUD was beautifully (typical Audi) executed and could be turned off if you didn't want it.

 

[Jalees]

It's strange - an RR with a heated front screen...once I'd seen the heating elements I couldn't stop looking at it. The RS4 HUD was beautifully (typical Audi) executed and could be turned off if you didn't want it.

Hahaha yes same here even those slight marks or chips once you see them they are visible.
But for most those details are not visible at all.

 

[Marc H]

Hi all, I've swapped a B8.5 A4 Avant for a Mk2 Q3 45TSFI quattro (wanted petrol and quattro) in Chronos Grey, bought as ex-demo from the lovely Lucy Cheesewright at the Watford dealers. My lower back needed a higher seat, main reason to change. Overall, I love and it suits urban/rural/motorway use with equal ease. Only things that annoy me are: scored rear discs/brake noise/easy rusting (see that thread), the fact that the heated mirrors are not combined with the rear/front screen switches ....and IMO, the steering wheel could be a bit smaller... to look better, really.

 

[mwcltd]

Welcome to the gang. I have never had scored/noisy/ rusty discs in 37 years of owning Audi's. When I wash the car I spray the discs with alloy wheel cleaner then attack them with a high pressure washer. I then dry them off using a standard hair dryer. The last Q3 model had automatic heated mirrors, I don't know why they changed this. The only problem with a smaller steering wheel is seeing clearly the instrumentation over the full range of adjustments. The other problem you will find is setting up the drive select and MMI to suit your driving requirements, there are lots of options.

 

[Marc H]

Welcome to the gang.

Thanks... in fact I got the car in mid-2019, but I've only just found the forum.

I have never had scored/noisy/ rusty discs in 37 years of owning Audis.

37... yikes! This is the first time I've had this in any of the cars I've had across many brands. I'm really surprised, as brakes are one of the millions of MQB-platform parts that VW uses across four of their brands. And they are not exactly a new bit of tech. My A4 had superb brakes.

When I wash the car I spray the discs with alloy wheel cleaner then attack them with a high pressure washer. I then dry them off using a standard hair dryer.

Hair dryer.... yikes! The car rarely gets washed - but ever since cheap foreign labour was invented, I take cars to a hand car wash. I can't believe that pressure washers have scored the discs, as I said I've never had this with any other cars...

The last Q3 model had automatic heated mirrors, I don't know why they changed this.

It's daft... you have to turn the little switch round and then of course you forget and they are on all the time. Would make much more sense if they came on with either screen-demister and then went off with them as well.

The only problem with a smaller steering wheel is seeing clearly the instrumentation over the full range of adjustments.

Maybe, but personally I think the whole dash should have been designed around a smaller wheel... but not as tiny as the new Peugeot ones.

The other problem you will find is setting up the drive select and MMI to suit your driving requirements, there are lots of options.

I use Dynamic all the time. Ride is not as smooth as my S-Line A4 was, or my mate's Merc GLC... it's OK, though.