By Sala Masindane

The refreshed Audi Q2 has been refreshed after 4 years of being in the local market. The updates are not only limited to looks but include new powertrains.

Exterior

The Audi Q2 now appears more youthful and progressive. At the front, the grille has sharper corners and air inlets appear more expressive. On the side, the C-Pillar blades are either painted in the colour of the vehicle or kept in black, grey and silver shades. The expressive design remains consistent at the rear as it is even more pleasing to look at.

LED headlights and rear lights are now standard on Q2 with Matrix LED technology being an optional extra. The rear lights will come in two LED options, this would be with or without dynamic turn signal. If the Matrix LED headlights option has been ticked, the rear end will spot standard dynamic turn signal lights.

The compact SUV will be available with five more additional exterior colours with Apple Green making its debut with Audi, and Manhattan grey, Navarra blue, Arrow grey, and Turbo blue being newly available for the compact SUV.

The Q2 will ride on 16-inch to 18-inch wheels from the bottom to the top of the range.

Interior

In the interior, standard or sport seats are available with fabric upholstery or a combination of leather and leatherette (artificial leather). Standard seat upholstery includes script fabric in black. Sports seats are available in index fabric as standard and are finished off in black with rock grey accents. Sports seats can be optionally upgraded with leather / leatherette upholstery or as part of the S line interior package, these are finished off in a black colour with rock grey stitching. The upholstery also features embossed S logos on the backrest in the latter offering. Customers who order the contour ambient lighting package can choose from ten colours.

An analog instrument with a colour display comes as standard. The top-of-the-line version is the Audi virtual cockpit with a 12.3-inch infotainment screen which forms part of the Technology Package and also includes Audi smartphone interface and MMI navigation plus, which is operated via the rotary push button on the centre tunnel (MMI touch) or via natural-language voice control.

A Bang & Olufsen Premium Sound System with 14 loudspeakers and an output of 705 watts is available as an option.

The luggage compartment holds 405 litres, expanding to 1,050 litres when the rear seat backs are folded down. As an optional extra, Audi will deliver the storage and luggage compartment with a tailgate that opens and closes electrically.

Engine and transmission

The Audi Q2 is being launched in the South African market with one engine offering, a 1.4 TFSI with power outputs of 110kW/250Nm. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h takes 8.8 seconds and the top speed is 213 km/h. The vehicle is fitted with an 8-speed tiptronic gearbox.

Pricing

The Q2 will be priced as follows:

Audi Q2 35 TFSI  Launch Edition          R519,500 (limited units available at the time of launch)

Audi Q2 35 TFSI  S tronic                      R545,500

Audi Q2 35 TFSI  Advanced S tronic    R567,500

Audi Q2 35 TFSI  S line S tronic            R581,500 All models come standard with a 5 year / 100,000km Audi Freeway plan.