Audi chose to go tiny when it introduced the Q2 a few years ago after successfully demonstrating to the world its ability to design medium and big SUVs. The Q2 came on the market and showed right away that tiny SUVs might be more than simply a trend. Its compact size and level of build quality were worthy of the fabled four-ringed logo.
And the Q2 is still punching above its weight half a decade later. It may be the smallest SUV in the German manufacturer’s lineup, which also includes the Q3, Q5, Q7, and Q8, but it’s also the most popular. It really ranks third among all Audi models in terms of sales, only behind the A1 and A3 hatchbacks.
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BabyDrive Verdict
I’m sure that not many people would consider the Audi Q2 to be their primary family vehicle, but how did it perform when put to the test and used as our family vehicle for a week? Would it genuinely make a useful set of family transportation? Let’s investigate…
Once our rear-facing Infasecure Kompressor infant seat was installed, I was originally very unhappy with the Q2’s lack of space. On our first trip, I had to sit in the front passenger seat since, with the child seat in place, it wouldn’t recline past the first notch and my husband, who is 6 feet 2 inches tall, would not have been able to fit.
I sat pressed up against the dashboard, content to let go of the steering wheel, and loved the journey! which was challenging in both ways. I discovered that I was pressed into the side of my seat at corners and roundabouts. My daughter’s protest made me aware that, as a passenger in this car, she too objected to this feature.
At this point, I had no idea what the Q2 was about or for whom it was intended. It’s just for single individuals with limited parking space who want to drive a quick, sporty car with an Audi emblem and occasionally drive it on gravel, which is why I assumed it would be useless for anyone with children.
Up until I took the wheel by myself! It was a lot of fun, however it is a challenging ride since, from the driver’s perspective, it seems sporty and speedy, it turns exceptionally well, and it excels at high speeds, especially on highways. The drive was fantastic because we didn’t have to worry about anyone else in the vehicle. When you add a 16-month-old passenger, you must adjust your driving style significantly to make up for the rough ride and to soften bends and roundabouts.
The more I used the Q2 throughout the week, the more I liked it. In addition to being quick and entertaining, the boot space was unexpectedly spacious! Actually, despite being a significantly larger SUV, it has the same boot space as the Ford Escape.
I could fit the simple H2 stroller and five bags of groceries inside, or I could fit the large Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle pram by itself without any bags.
This area has been taken from the back row of seats because they don’t have enough storage space or leg room, which would make them slightly more family-friendly. On the plus side, the back row of seats does appear bigger than in some large SUVs I’ve driven, and I believe you could fit three child seats across the back row if you were cautious with your child seat selections.
The Q2 still had a few drawbacks. The reversing camera sensors made a very loud ‘beeeep,’ and while you could turn it off with a button on the center dash, doing so also turned off the camera and screen display! From a safety standpoint, crazy
Several times when the Q2 started on a hill, I discovered that it had trouble finding its gear. As the automobile figured out which gear to utilize, there would be a clunk or judder from the front and a delay in taking off. I discovered that turning on the automatic handbrake solved this issue, and from that point on, only smooth hill starts occurred. However, the automated handbrake is an additional that can be chosen.
I had a very dreadful experience in the second quarter that I would not want to undergo again. A automobile passed me while I was traveling in the right-hand lane at 70 km/h, moving ahead of me and then into the right-hand turning lane. For this automobile, I didn’t need to slow down, and the cruise control maintained a speed of 70 km/h. The Q2 slammed on its brakes and almost came to an emergency stop as I passed the car that had stopped and was waiting to turn to my right. Everything happened very quickly, and I was relieved to discover that no one was driving behind me since I’m very sure they would have crashed into the back of my car at 70 km/h. I was also relieved that my daughter wasn’t in the car. I’m happy to say that I only went through this once, but it was enough. This, in my opinion, is a feature of either the Q2’s standard autonomous emergency braking system or the adaptive cruise control and lane assist to prevent drivers from swerving out of their lanes. Whichever of these features was at fault, it seemed more like a risk than a safety feature at the time.
The dash, center console, and steering wheel are covered in a scattering of knobs, switches, and buttons of varying sizes and shapes that operate various components of the entertainment system. The whole thing seemed a little too complicated to me, and I’m sure there must have been a simpler arrangement they could have useda touch screen would have been preferable. I discovered that there were simply too many switches and dials to operate even for simple adjustments while driving and paying attention to Tulsi.
Around the controls on the center console and the door’s window mechanisms, Audi has employed a matte black finish. It looks fantastic but marks horribly, presumably just from your skin’s natural oils, and you can see finger prints left behind after each touch, which is bad for young fingers!
The Q2 won me over as the week went on, and I can definitely picture this as a family vehicle, especially if I live in a city where parking is scarce. The majority of an SUV’s advantages are included in the Q2, but without the parking lot footprint! A larger family car for outings with the entire family and the Q2 for running errands and picking up and dropping off would be a terrific combination. When the boot floor is lowered, the big boot capacity makes it useful.
Many of the Q2’s features are extras that may be purchased separately, thus they are more expensive. When contrasting the Q2 with other family-friendly vehicles, you must give this some serious thought because the price you see at first may not be the price you will ultimately pay.
BabyDrive Indepth – Storage
There are two cup holders in the front of the car, although they are only actually wide and deep enough to fit a takeout coffee cup. They are located in front of the gear lever. I could have gotten my water bottle in after removing the plastic barrier, but it was too tall and the top of it knocked the air conditioning button!
In front of these are a 12V power outlet and a USB port. In addition to a headphone jack, the center console storage compartment between the front seats also has a second USB port. The Q2 also boasts a built-in wi-fi hotspot, which is fantastic for keeping young passengers who are using iPads entertained on long trips.
There is not a lot of storage space in the front, and the door pockets are barely big enough for my wallet and a water bottle; an iPad would not fit in them because they are not lined.
The door pockets in the back are considerably smaller, barely fitting my water bottle and having no place at all for an iPad or a wallet.
The glove box amazingly housed the car handbook, my wallet, and my iPad with enough to spare even though there was no sunglasses holder in the ceiling.
The doors only have handles, no wells. I like that there are little wells because I find them useful for holding any small items Tulsi might be holding onto when I help her get in or out of the car.
By adjusting it up, out, down, and back, the central console lid functions as an armrest. It takes some getting used to the lever-like mechanism, and each time I pushed it, I was never quite sure what I would get!
There is a small, rubber-lined ledge behind the cup holders, but I found that it was a better size to carry my sunglasses. There is nowhere else to put your phone but the central console. It is not absolutely necessary to be able to see your phone’s screen, even though it is safer to put it in the center console and the Q2 has Apple Car Play. Even though the USB cable is connected in, it looks unpleasant next to me in the passenger seat and wouldn’t work with a front passenger. However, I still enjoy to be able to view it.
There are no map pockets in the rear, so there isn’t much room or storage there. You could add cargo nets, but it would make whatever was inside visible and cost extra, like most things with the Audi. The door pockets are small and there is no under-seat storage, so passengers in this tech-friendly vehicle have no place to put any of their electronics! Additionally, there wasn’t much legroom, which was made worse by the extremely upright seat backs, one of which has a fold-down armrest part with two little cup holders in the middle.
The boot space’s functionality and importance cannot be overstated. I prefer vehicles with large boot spaces and small side wells or other compartments that can be divided into. Therefore, items like Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear that I don’t want to move while driving may be compartmentalized in a small space so they won’t spill or get squished by other items in the boot.
The ability to fasten the bag containing more delicate items, such as eggs, so they don’t move about on the trip, makes hooks for hanging shopping bags one of my other favorite types of hooks.
You could place your picnic in the lower floor space and your pram and beach gear in the top compartment, for example, thanks to the Q2’s hidden extra boot room!
I gauge the boot room for dogs, strollers, and frozen shopping bags. I don’t believe that a mother’s existence is limited to grocery shopping, pushing a stroller, and caring for dogs. (Even though at times it seems like it!) However, since these are things that can be measured visually, we can all relate to them. It’s difficult for me to visualize 400 liters in the boot of a car, and depending on how the space is organized or shaped, 400 liters in one car may not be as usable as it is in another.
There are two depth choices for the boot’s floor. It had a surprising amount of storage capacity, a boot floor that was flush with the car’s frame, was simple to access without stooping, and a convenient rectangular form. I could fit five shopping bags around the little H2 stroller diagonally across it and ten bags in the boot if nothing else. However, there was no room for any bags; it would only fit my Mountain Buggy pram lying flat on the floor.
Then I learned that the boot floor could be lowered for more storage! This feature is AMAZING! Using the plastic guides on either side of the boot, the floor of the boot may be easily moved out and back into its lower position. You now have an additional six inches of room. The extra storage space is certainly worth it, and because the Q2 is higher, it is not too low to bend. You do have to pull things into the boot now rather than just sliding them in, as the floor no longer sits flush with the frame.
I could lay the Mountain Buggy stroller flat and stack two additional shopping bags on top of it while the boot floor was in its lower position. I could fit four bags alongside the pram when it was on its side against the back of the seats, and when the boot door was closed, the parcel shelf collapsed flat.
For securing bags with delicate contents, there is a small well on the left and a hook on either side toward the seat backs.
In the Q2 boot, bum changes were not a concern. Both ways worked nicely because Tulsi couldn’t roll out whether the floor was in the top or lower position, which meant I didn’t have to lean down to do it.
The solid parcel shelf always covered the items in the boot and was fastened to the back window with string loops. The parcel shelf must be completely removed and left at home if there are any tall loads in the boot.
There is plenty of room on the back seat for any size dog with only one child seat installed. It might also be more practical to put the dog in the front since the front passenger seat can only be used by people who are roughly 162 cm tall if you have a rear-facing child seat behind them.
BabyDrive Indepth – Noise
Reversing camera and parking sensors are standard on both the 2.0-liter TDI Quattro Sport and the 1.4-liter petrol TFSI I drove. Additionally, there is a very handy button on the dashboard to turn off the “beeeeeep.” or so I believed. You lose the reversing camera in addition to the buzzer because it also turns off the entire visual display. Although it’s a little car, the vision out the rear and sides is inadequate, therefore I felt the reverse camera was extremely necessary. Just having it without the obnoxious sensors waking up my child would be good!
After becoming a father, I quickly realized that there are some noises and sounds I could live without if it meant that my child would stay asleep.
That frequently my crying, upset infant is a bigger distraction when driving than, say, not having a lane departure warning.
Which is the safest option if my kid is distressed by the lane departure warning beeping?
It’s at this point that I believe we need to be able to strike a balance and decide when we may turn off the alerts or switch to something else, like a vibration in the steering wheel or possibly a flashing light?
Many of these noises are a result of the development of technology, particularly those associated with alerts and safety measures. These all have their place in my opinion.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that I spend a lot more time in locations where young children congregate, such as parks, beaches, play areas, swimming lessons, childcare facilities, etc. I’m more conscious now that I need to triple check for little children when I’m reversing or maneuvering in the parking lots since they may be running about behind me or in my blind area. I adore reverse cameras for this, but I detest their beeping noises!
I enjoy the peace of mind I get from the cameras and sensors paired with my personal view from windows and mirrors because I don’t trust cameras alone. Since having a child, I have been much more alert of safety and potential mishaps or hazards.
The indicators had a soft tick, so I didn’t think they bothered Tulsi or interfered with her too much.
The voice navigation system in this automobile is AMAZING! Two buttons are located on the steering wheel; one mutes the voice of the satellite navigation system, and the other repeats the most recent instruction.
This is a wonderful function because all too frequently I find myself with the sat nav audio on, listening to all the instructions I don’t need as my daughter screams just as the one I do! She normally becomes cranky after being in the car for a while and always seems worse in the last 5 to 10 minutes of the trip, which is usually when I need the sat nav directions too!
The Q2’s windows and doors both close with a loud clang that rattles everything in the door pockets.
When the driver’s door is opened with the engine running, a second alarm sounds with a sharp beeping noise that is intended to wake up your sleeping child so it will cry out and notify you that your door is open.
The Q2 included Apple Car Play, which linked to my phone rather simply, but I had to use the mouse to navigate through the main menu screen to get to it and start my nursery rhymes playing instead of having them start right away. I’m so used to using Apple Car Play as a touchscreen that using the mouse with it seemed a little odd. The mouse was surrounded by a large number of various knobs, switches, and buttons, and the volume controls were curiously placed beneath the gear lever.
I believed there ought to be some sort of consolidation since all the controls were too dispersed. I would accidentally push a mute button or turn off the screen in the mistaken belief that I had done so, and the radio would still be playing. However, I felt they demanded way too much attention when I had the road and then a crying toddler to focus on. I’m sure that with time, you would figure out what they all do and they would all become second nature.
All Q2 models have an automated engine cutout, but I find that switching the engine on and off at stoplights frightens and disturbs my infant. The on/off switch for the media screen is easily placed on the center dashboard next to the on/off switches for Park Assist, parking sensor, danger warning, traction control, and media screen.
When compared to many of the larger SUVs I have driven, which can shake and rattle like a van, the Q2 is a lovely quiet car to drive with very little road or engine noise.
When a seat is occupied but the passenger’s seatbelt is not fastened, the driver’s display has seatbelt warning lights that flash. A door alarm sounds when it detects an open door. Although the alarm can wake a sleeping baby, these safety measures are excellent.
BabyDrive Indepth – Car Seats
The Q2 has five seats available. The two outer seats in the rear row each have two Isofix points, and the backrests of all three seats have top tethers for all three passengers.
Instead of being hidden in the folds of fabric between the join of the back and base of the seats, the Isofix points are very conveniently located in the seat backs with plastic casings. This makes installing the Isofix fairly simple, and I had no sense of them from my seat in the back seats.
There was plenty of strap available and no need for an extension strap because the top tether points were placed close to the top of the backrests. The type I had allowed you to separate the backrests into three pieces, making it really simple to install the car seats. This feature is optional, as I’ve found most nice things to be, though!
While installing the child seats, I discovered that the Q2’s back seats are actually fairly large and generous. Both the rear-facing Infasecure Kompressor child seat and the Mountain Buggy Protect capsule fit with a few extra inches on either side after installation. There was still plenty of room there, but I couldn’t quite fit my Infasecure Foldaway booster seat there. My little Labrador pal fit perfectly, and if you were careful when choosing your child seats, you might be able to accommodate three across the back row.
With everything assembled, there is plenty of headroom, which helps offset the lack of leg room and prevents the back from feeling crowded. However, the front passenger has limited space in front of a rear-facing child seat.
When nursing in the backseat and putting the baby into her car seat from both inside and outside the car, the broader seats and headroom were very helpful. I believed that the higher driving position made it simpler to post Tulsi in from the outside.
The leather-appointed seats would be simple to maintain and had few stitch details or seams that may catch infant slobber.