2020 Audi Q3 small family SUV

How big is the boot of the 2020 Audi Q3?

The boot of the Audi Q3 is a very good size. When using all five seats it holds eleven shopping bags, which matches the BMW X1, is one more than the Audi Q2 and the BMW X2 that both hold ten shopping bags and one less than the Volvo XC40 which holds 12.

The twin stroller fits with one shopping bag.

The tandem stroller fits with three shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The single stroller fits with four shopping bags beside it.

The compact stroller fits with eight shopping bags beside it.

You can fit a medium-sized dog in the boot of the Audi Q3 with the parcel shelf removed.

The boot floor of the Q3 is flat and carpeted which would work perfectly for an emergency nappy change. There is a bag hook on both sides near the back of the boot and large storage wells on either side behind the wheel arches, I found them useful for lunch boxes etc so they didn't rattle around the boot.

How good is storage inside the 2020 Audi Q3?

The storage inside the Audi Q3 is great in the front. There are two cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fit in there too.

The central console box is quite small and the lid doubles as your armrest.

In front of the gear lever is a cordless phone charging tray and two USB ports. You can use Apple CarPlay completely wirelessly if you have a compatible iPhone!

The glove box is a good size in the Q3 and would hold an iPad and wallet easily.

There is a felt-lined drawer by the driver's right knee which is the only place to store sunglasses as there is no holder in the ceiling.

The door bins in the front are nice and large. They will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad and there are little wells in the door handles as well.

Storage in the second row is more minimal, the door bins are smaller but do hold a large refillable water bottle.

There are no map pockets on the back of the front seats, instead, there are storage trays at either end of the rear seats that I found will hold an iPad.

There is a fold-down in the central seatback with two tiny cup holders, these will not hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup, only a 600ml bottle or baby bottle fitted.

How noisy is the 2020 Audi Q3?

The Audi Q3 is not a noisy car.

The media system is really lovely and simple and easy to use.

I found it really easy to connect my phone to either using the USB or Bluetooth. It has Apple CarPlay (that works without the USB wire) and Android Auto.

There are some fun features within the media system like being able to write the name of the person you want to call, which my daughter found a lot of fun!

Also if you leave your phone in the car as you are getting out the system will announce you have left your car in the vehicle! A great feature but could be disturbing if transferring a sleeping baby!

The camera image quality is excellent in the Audi Q3, there are front and rear cameras and many angles to choose in the bottom right of the screen. You can also mute the parking sensors with a button on the bottom right of the screen also.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

There are buttons and a rotary dial down in the central console to control the media system but I found I mainly used the touch screen. You can also turn off the parking sensors with a button in this central panel too as well as turn the sensors on and off with a button in the central console.

The cruise control in the Q3 is very accurate and I found it would only go one or two kilometres over the set speed and then correct itself. The stalk is set behind the steering wheel and I found it quite easy to use. I did find the Audi Q3 would brake hard if a car was stopped in the centre lane to turn right, thinking we were going to hit into it, which I found quite frustrating.

The Audi Q3 feels great to drive, it feels sturdy and robust for a small SUV and it's a great nippy and fun car to drive. I did find the doors rarely shut the first time which was frustrating and meant lots getting in an out of the car to re-shut doors every journey! Which would be very baby-waking!

The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up! 

The indicator volume wasn't baby-waking in the Q3.

Road and engine noise are good in the Q3, I found there can be a bit of a jolt when you accelerate and I found putting it into Sport mode for this eliminated it, so I often popped it into Sport to accelerate and then back into D afterwards to avoid the jolt motion.

There are individual window locks in the driver's door control panel for the rear windows which are a great feature and a door lock as well.

How many child seats fit in the 2020 Audi Q3?

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seatbacks, clearly labelled and easy to connect to and reach through the boot.

There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats clearly labelled and within plastic guides.

I could easily fit two full-size child seats in the back here, either forward-facing or rear-facing. I did find that I could almost fit three child seats across but it was just too much of a squeeze but I think if you used slimline child seats they would fit.

Legroom would be very tight though and we found with a forward-facing child seat a 182cm passenger could just fit comfortably in front of it and with a rear-facing child seat a 170cm driver could fit in front of it.

I could not sit in the back between two child seats and I am 162cm. I could just wedge myself in but my shoulders were completely squeezed in.

The doors of the Audi Q3 and the ceiling are quite low so you do really have to bend down to post bub into their child seat.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed bub in the back seats if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the 2020 Audi Q3? And How good is the 2020 Audi Q3 to drive?

The front seats of the Audi Q3 are lovely and comfortable and easily adjustable using the electronic controls on the side of the seat base.

The headrests are not adjustable and I found I could not wear a ponytail!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are extremely comfortable too. Legroom is good too in the back and I had enough legroom behind a 182cm driver and I'm 162cm.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

Across the front dashboard, there are four air conditioning vents…

…which can be easily controlled using the buttons on the central dash.

In the second row, there are air-conditioning vents in the back of the central console box which I can reach to control while driving.

When maneuvering or parking, visibility was good in this small car and the windows are a good size and excellent camera image really helped.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the little Audi Q3, was easy to park.

How safe is the 2020 Audi Q3?

The Audi Q3 scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Scoring 88% for child occupancy testing, broken down into 43.5/49. Getting 15.49 out of 16 for dynamic frontal test and full marks for dynamic side and child seat installation testing and 8/13 for onboard features.

ANCAP said of the child occupant testing:

For adult occupant protection, the Audi Q3 scored 95%, broken down into 36.2 out of 38. Scoring 7.69 out of 8 for the full-width frontal test, 6.85 out of 8 for the frontal offset test and full marks for the side-impact and pole tests.

Six airbags come as standard; there are dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side head curtain airbags for the front and the rear side passengers.

As standard, all models of the Audi Q3 come with adaptive headlights, anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – City, Interurban, VRU, automatic headlights, blind-spot monitoring (BSM), daytime running lights (DRL), emergency brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic data-recorder (EDR), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, fatigue detection, forward collision warning (FCW), hill launch assist, lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), pre-crash systems, rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), daytime running lights (DRL), reversing collision avoidance (auto-brake), roll stability system, secondary multi-collision brake and tyre pressure monitoring system all come as standard.

Adaptive criuse control and automatic high beam are optional extras.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!