► Even sharper look for smallest Audi SUV
► LED lights and other standard kit upgrades
► Priced under £24k, on sale October 2020
The Audi Q2 has been updated with a new look, new colours, new wheels and a new interior (in places at least). Plus new Audi connect online services, new driver assistance systems and new headlights.
That’s a whole lot of new. Interested? Read on…
Did somebody have an accident with a chisel?
It might just be the lighting in these official pictures, but the Q2 certainly looks like someone’s poly-gone mad with the angles on the exterior refresh, as if the designers were pre-empting a Lego version or something. The new front and rear bumper treatment has kept the set-squares busy as well.
The result is striking, if not actually attractive – it has always been thus for the Q2, we fear, which Audi has deliberately positioned as an outlier from its more mature Q-range of SUVs – and also marginally longer than the original version.
We’re still only talking about a 4.21m car here, though, and the 1.79m and 1.54m height are unchanged from the pre-facelift model – ditto the 0.31 drag coefficient (where sport suspension is fitted). That’s the most-slippery-in-class, should junior crossover buyers be concerned.
Those lights also look new?
How observant you are! The entire range gets LED headlights now, while top-spec Vorsprung variants are fitted with LED Matrix lamps as standard. These also get adaptive sports suspension, Nappa leather, dual-zone climate, Bang & Olufsen, panoramic roof, a rear-view camera and all of the safety systems Audi could pack into the car.
This includes a new ‘adaptive cruise assist’ system, which will speed up and slow down according to the road signs it reads (watch out for those including speed limits written on the back of trucks), as well as keeping the thing in lane. The usual pseudo-self-driving stuff for 2020.
The rest of the UK line-up comprises Technik, Sport, S line and Black Edition, with all now featuring a power tailgate, rear parking sensors and cruise control. Drag yourself up from entry-level and you get sport seats and Audi drive select as well; the Black Edition is, inevitably, kitting out with black trim bits – plus 19-inch alloy wheels.
Five new exterior paint colours are available, including the intriguing Apple Green, which makes its Audi debut here. The blades on the C-pillars continue to be offered in body colour, black, grey or silver, while the lower sections of the bumpers are also coloured in different ways, depending on spec.
Any changes inside?
Not a massive amount – which is a shame as, generous space aside, this is one of the Q2’s weakest areas. Buyers do get new-look air vents and gearknobs, though, plus new fabrics for the door trims and – best of all – four-way electric lumber support for the front seats as standard.
Sport models and up also get 12.3-inch virtual cockpit instrumentation, and ‘MMI navigation plus’ on an 8.3-inch central screen. This isn’t a touchscreen, which is a novelty, instead controlled by the usual MMI rotary dial or ‘natural language’ voice.
The MMI navigation plus system includes a 4g LTE data connection as standard, enabling a bunch of online services including traffic, Google Earth mapping, weather and fuel pricing. ‘Audi connect emergency call & service’ and ‘Audi connect remote & control’ also come as part of the package – the latter giving you remote access to the car, including locking, via the myAudi smartphone app.
What’s the engine line-up for the new Q2?
Audi’s being somewhat vague about this. ‘At launch’ you can definitely get a 148bhp / 184lb ft 1.5-litre TFSI turbo petrol, with more TFSI and some TDI engines expected to join the range before the end of 2020.
The launch 1.5 will be six-speed manual as standard, seven-speed S tronic optional, and front-wheel drive. Quattro all-wheel drive will become available when the other engines do.
How much and when?
Pricing for the 2020 Audi Q2 facelift isn’t officially fixed yet, but is set to start at around £23,500 when it goes on sale in October 2020.