Audi Q3 Sportback

Mileage 3992 List price £39,725 Target Price £37,340 Price as tested £50,665

Test economy 32.1mpg

WITH ALL NEW things you encounter in life, be it a sport, a job, a house or a car, there’s invariably a point when the glowing honeymoon period ends and reality takes over.this can still be a positive time, reminding you of the great points that attracted you to it in the rst place.and sure enough, I’m nding plenty to like about my Audi Q3 Sportback; just look at it, for starters. However, I’m also becoming more aware of some practicality issues.

While its boot is bigger than that of the rival BMW X2 and is able to swallow all my camera gear during the week, come the weekend, it won’t take my infant son’s pram and crib at the same time.

The latter ends up on the back seat beside him, and that’s after I’ve squeezed his child seat through the fairly small rear door openings. In fact, the seat won’t actually t in widthways; instead, I have to twist it through the gap, then rotate it to clip it into its base.

In addition, like most cars, the Q3 Sportback has Iso x mounting points on only the outer two rear seats.this means I can’t mount the child seat in the middle to enable the front passenger seat to whir back a few extra centimetres.

To be fair, if you have older kids who no longer need bulky rearfacing seats, you’ll nd this car plenty big enough inside. But at my stage of parenthood, my front passenger is forced to put up with limited leg room.

Anyway, enough of the moaning; as I hinted earlier, I remain very much a fan of the way the Q3 Sportback looks. Its many lovely visual details include an angle over the rear wheelarches that, when viewed from behind, reminds me of the legendary Audi Quattro rally car.

Maybe, just maybe, I’m not that grown-up after all, and the Sportback’s youthful air will help keep me from rapidly advancing into middle age. Fingers crossed.