Audi Q3 comes of age

NEW MODEL LOOKS MUCH SPORTIER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR Infotainment system offers same technical functions as in higher segments.

When you have travelled out of South Africa to just about every corner on the planet, not just once, but a few times over, you would kinda think you know everything there is to know about international travel. And if you don’t know the exact law, you would think that sometime over the course of your hundreds of trips, you would have found out most of what there is to know, the easy way or the hard way.

And you would think that if you do something without censure, or something is allowed over and over, it is pretty much accepted that what you are doing is okay and all is well with life. Well, clearly, I didn’t get every memo on aviation law.

I was invited to Balzano in Italy last week to drive the new Audi Q3. It was a quick in-and-out trip, I had a valid Schengen visa, I checked in online via my app, like always, and proceeded to passport control with my electronic boarding pass safely tucked into my phone wallet, like I have done several times this year already.

Only to be stopped for the first time since starting in this business many years ago by a rather grumpy lady who insisted I did not have two, completely clean, not a single stamp on them, visa pages in my passport. She was right, I didn’t, and I tried to explain that if she looked at the stamps going and coming back to our country, I have travelled like this plenty times, and there was some space in around the other stamps in my passport to put her stamp, and anybody else to put their stamp in there too when I got into Europe.

She was having none of it. I got sent to the person she said was the big boss of customs. He wasn’t having any of it either. He referred me to the airline and said if they agree that I could go, he would allow me through, as it was his department that had allowed me to leave the country “illegally” so many times before.

And that is exactly where my trip ended, the lady there cared least of the lot. She simply said the airline gets the blame and

the fine if I am turned back in Europe for a passport violation. I begged, I pleaded, I explained and pleaded some more. She simply deplaned me and told me to go home. Conversation and trip over.

Before you roll your eyes like you know everything and say the law is law and that ignorance is no excuse, I honestly didn’t know you had to have two completely clean pages in a well-used passport with an existing visa, a new visa, yes. And I really felt that they have and had been letting me out and in like this forever – and that the open space next many of the other stamps in my passport would have been more than acceptable to put a stamp on that can be seen by anybody.

You know how they say everything happens for a reason? Well I truly believe this is only said to stop you from going stark raving mad and doing very dumb things to somebody when something stupid happens, something that messes up your day, week, month, year or whatever.

But as our publication was invited with good intention and the invite was accepted with equally good intention, we have decided to still bring you the news on the strikingly good-looking, new Audi Q3.

It is a family SUV with great all-round talents. In its second generation, it appears not only visually more self-confident, but

also roomier and more versatile. Just like the Audi top-of-the-line models, it features a digital operating and display concept, extensive infotainment solutions and innovative assist systems. These are said to ensure additional comfort, as does the enhanced suspension.

The SUV looks much sportier than its predecessor. Thanks to the striking Singleframe in octagon design, which is divided up by vertical bars, along with the large air inlets. They characterise the front-end with its intensive play of light and shadow. The narrow headlights run inwards with their wedge shape.

Audi supplies them in three versions through to Matrix LED technology whose adaptive high beam intelligently illuminates the road. The side view epitomises the balance of the exterior design with the symmetrical lighting graphics of the headlights and rear lights. The shoulder line connects them from a styling perspective and provides an athletic overall impression with strong muscles over the wheel arches.

The contours draw their inspiration from Audi’s quattro DNA and make the SUV seem even wider; the colour-contrasting wheel arch trims emphasise the off-road look. Supported by a long roof edge spoiler, which also flanks the rear window, the steeply raked D pillars of the bodyline also create an appearance of forward thrust.

The interior continues the design of the exterior and echoes in many ways the brand’s full-size models. The architecture harmonises perfectly with the new operating concept. Its central element is the MMI touch display with its high-gloss black glasslook surround. Together with the air conditioning controls underneath, it is tilted 100 toward the driver. All displays, buttons and controls are located ergonomically. The seats are said to be comfortable and provide a sporty position; the steering wheel is steeply angled accordingly.