That’s right, it’s faster than some sports cars.
German carmaker Audi has pulled the wraps off the new Audi SQ2, which brings serious poke to the sharply-styled crossover. Utilising the running gear underneath the more pedestrian S3 hatch, the the SQ3 packs a whopping 220kW and 400Nm from its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, giving it enough get-up-and-go ability to outsprint a Porsche.
It was well-known that the SQ2 would make use of a hot 2.0-litre engine, but it wasn’t expected to be this hot. 100km/h can be hit from rest in just 4.8-seconds, making it faster than the recently-unveiled BMW X2 M35i, as well as the Porsche Cayman. Power goes to all-four wheels via a Quattro all-wheel drive system that’s been tuned specifically for use here, with a 7-speed double-clutch gearbox wedged in the middle.
*Because Audi only provided one photo, this is a Q2 Sport
As expected of a performance model, the SQ2 features a variety of aesthetic enhancements to set it apart from the cooking models, like a unique grille with vertical slats, a bunch of gloss black highlights all over the place, bigger wheels (18-inch as standard, 19-inch optional), and quad tailpipes out the back. There’ll also be a unique suspension tune for the hot model to ensure that all that poke is kept in check.
The SQ2 also sits some 20mm lower than the standard car, and features ‘Quattro’ motifs all over the place. So far, so Audi.
Step inside (which you can’t right now because Audi’s only supplied one photo) and again, it’s a lot of what you’d expect to see from Audi Sport. There are sports seats in the front wrapped in a leather/fabric combination, though full Nappa leather is available as an option. Same goes with the instrumentation: Regular dials are standard, but you can pay more to get Virtual Cockpit thrown in. Thankfully the 8.3-inch MMI infotainment system (with LTE, WiFi, Apple CarPlay & Android Auto) is standard, but they’ll relieve you of many dollars for that 14-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system.
The SQ2 will be fitted with the usual advanced driver assistance systems seen in the vanilla Q2, like AEB with pedestrian detection, while keeping things like active cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and lane-keep assist on the options list.
The SQ2 will go on sale in the UK before this year is out, while we’ll be made to wait a year or so before we see it on our shores. Who knows though, Audi Australia may just pull a few strings to see this here sooner. So be sure to stay tuned to CarShowroom as we bring you more updates as they come.
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