• Generous amouny of passenger space
• Big boot for a car this size
• Sliding rear bench on higher-spec models

At 4.5 metres long, the Audi Q3 is pretty compact for a family SUV. But clever packaging liberates a lot of passenger and boot space. Up front, there’s generous head, leg and shoulder room, and the seats have a wide range of adjustment to cater for people of all sizes and shapes. None of our testers had any complaints about the space on offer.

Head and shoulder room are equally generous in the back – though three adults are pinched sitting across the bench. The amount of legroom is variable as the seat slides back and forth by up to 150mm. That allows you to tune the ratio of passenger and boot space to your requirements. Slid all the way back, even our tallest testers had plenty of legroom. The backrest tilts, as well, which can help the passengers’ comfort, and the back doors open wide for easier access.

Even so, the Q3 isn’t the most spacious model in its class. The BMW X1 has more room in the front, and the Volvo XC40 is more accommodating in the rear.

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Boot space and storage

The Q3’s sliding rear seat equates to boot space ranging from a minimum of 530 litres to a maximum 675 litres. That compares to 492 litres in the Volvo XC40 and 591 litres in the Range Rover Evoque. It’s bigger even than the Audi A6 Avant. The Q3 PHEV’s battery pack reduces space to 380 litres – par for the course with plug-ins.

The back seats fold down in a 40:20:40 split to create 1,525 litres of space – more than enough for a heavy-duty trip to Ikea. The space is wide and largely flat, so it’s easy to load. The boot floor can be positioned at two levels. At the upper level, there’s extra storage space underneath that the parcel shelf can slot into if needed, and no loading lip. At the lower level, there’s a couple of extra inches of depth for taller loads.

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Is it easy to park?

At 4,485mm long, the Q3 is about 150mm longer than the Audi A3 hatchback and 10mm shorter than the A3 saloon. Not an especially big car, then. You sit higher up that in those cars, of course, and you have pretty good forward visibility. Indeed, the view all-round is better than you get in many other compact SUVs, because the windows are relatively large.

None of our testers found parking the Q3 was onerous. Rear parking sensors are fitted to all models; front parking sensors, a reversing camera and 360-degree camera system are available from the options list.

Safety

• Five star Euro NCAP rating
• Three sets of Isofix mounts fitted
• Effective driver assistance tech

Car safety experts Euro NCAP awarded a full five-star rating to the Audi Q3 when it was assessed in 2018. It scored very strong marks in every area of the assessment, particularly for adult occupant protection and the performance of its driver assistance features. Those features include:

• Autonomous emergency braking
• Lane departure warning
• Traffic sign recognition
• Driver attention monitor
• Stability control
• Adaptive LED headlights (optional)

Three sets of Isofix child seat mounts are fitted to the front passenger and outer rear seats.

WATCH: Audi Q3 SUV Euro NCAP crash test