Audi Q3 Compact SUV range titivated for 2017 and new Q3 Black Edition – costs from £26,600

The Audi Q3 range is updated for 2017, with a new range of Sport, S line Edition and Black Edition, cosmetic tweaks and equipment upgrades.

The ‘baby’ Audi SUV – the Audi Q3 – has been with us for five years, but now there’s a new baby SUV in the Audi stable – the new Audi Q2 – so it’s time to give the Q3 a titivate to keep it appealing to car buyers.

The headline change seems to be a revised nomenclature for the Q3 model range, with the current SE, S line Navigation and S line Plus binned and replaced with Sport, S line Edition and Black Edition models, with prices starting at £26,600 and rising to £36,945.

Audi say the spec levels have moved upwards with the new model range, with the new Q3 Sport (formerly SE) getting SD Sat Nav as standard and styling updates including a body-coloured diffuser at the front and bigger air vents, and the new S Line Edition (formerly S Line Navigation) gets Cruise, Audi Parking System Plus, and a titivated front.

The new Q3 Black Edition (replacing the S Line Plus) gets metallic paint, Privacy Glass, Bose Sound, Piano Black trim, gloss black exterior highlights and 19″ black alloys.

Across the range equipment levels improve, with all models now with Sat Nav, Audi Music, Bluetooth, parking sensors, auto lights and wipers, Climate,  and 6.5″ colour screen.

Sport models also get Xenon headlights and LED running and tail lights, with S Line and Black getting LED headlights too.

Engine options are two diesels and two petrols, with a 1.4 litre TFSI and 2.0 litre TFSI with 148bhp and 177bhp respectively, and a 2.0 litre diesel with 148bhp or 181bhp. The more powerful petrol and diesel engines get quattro 4WD.

The revised Audi Q3 range goes on sale at Audi’s UK dealers on 11 October, with first customer cars due before the end of the year.