Photo: Audi
As is usually the case with German cars, rumors about next-gen models start flying out just as the mid-life facelift is about to be revealed. Did the engineers find out what they couldn't do because of current platform limitations? Let's find out with this report about the Mk2 Audi Q3!
According to German magazine Autobild, the next version of what's currently the smallest Audi Q model will go on sale in 2018, four years from now. In the mean time, the company is preoccupied with development of a mid-life facelift in Europe, which should come out in the next few months, and the US launch of the 2015 Q3.
The magazine also says it has some information about the Mk2. According to them, the model will become bigger in order to differentiate itself from the new Q1 that they're reportedly planning. But don't expect the Q3 to pig out all of a sudden, just a bit of stretching in order to better compete in terms of cabin space and boot capacity.
The MQB platform will take over from where the old PQ35 will leave off. Of course, this won't be the first SUV based on the new Volkswagen platform. That honor belongs to the Tiguan, which is going to debut in late 2015. SEAT's own crossover, which we think will be more car-like, is also due for 2016.
The engine range is where things really get interesting. According to our German source, displacements will go as low as the 1-liter three-cylinder TFSI with 110 PS. It sounds a little crazy, considering the only Q3 model on sale in the US has double the cubic capacity and almost double the power.
There will be not one but two performance models. A replacement for the RS Q3 will arrive in the form of a 400 hp monster keeping its 2.5-liter mill and there will also be an RS Q3 TDI with what Autobild says is either 258 or 272 PS.
Considering no VW Group company has yet tried to fit a V6 into an MQB-based car, we're guessing the diesel engine they're talking about is a twin-turbo 2.0 TDI, like the one recently fitted to the Passat.
The magazine also says it has some information about the Mk2. According to them, the model will become bigger in order to differentiate itself from the new Q1 that they're reportedly planning. But don't expect the Q3 to pig out all of a sudden, just a bit of stretching in order to better compete in terms of cabin space and boot capacity.
The MQB platform will take over from where the old PQ35 will leave off. Of course, this won't be the first SUV based on the new Volkswagen platform. That honor belongs to the Tiguan, which is going to debut in late 2015. SEAT's own crossover, which we think will be more car-like, is also due for 2016.
The engine range is where things really get interesting. According to our German source, displacements will go as low as the 1-liter three-cylinder TFSI with 110 PS. It sounds a little crazy, considering the only Q3 model on sale in the US has double the cubic capacity and almost double the power.
There will be not one but two performance models. A replacement for the RS Q3 will arrive in the form of a 400 hp monster keeping its 2.5-liter mill and there will also be an RS Q3 TDI with what Autobild says is either 258 or 272 PS.
Considering no VW Group company has yet tried to fit a V6 into an MQB-based car, we're guessing the diesel engine they're talking about is a twin-turbo 2.0 TDI, like the one recently fitted to the Passat.
Google News