Audi's original Q3, introduced for the 2015 model year, entered an already competitive luxury subcompact SUV market. While competent, its dated underpinnings meant it failed to significantly impress. The subsequent 2019 replacement, built on a new platform and featuring an improved cabin and updated styling, still faced criticism, leading to its 10th-place ranking in MotorTrend's luxury subcompact SUV ratings. Despite these perceived flaws, the Q3 remains Audi’s second-bestselling SUV in the U.S., highlighting the critical importance for the new, third-generation 2026 Q3 to address past shortcomings and excel amidst fierce competition.

Audi considers the 2026 Q3 to be an entirely new vehicle, largely due to its updated MQB Evo platform. This evolution incorporates significant enhancements to its suspension, electronics, unibody, and transmission. Aesthetically, the exterior design is both more aggressive and classier than its predecessor, characterized by a wide Singleframe grille and a pronounced beltline that flows from front to rear, seamlessly integrating into the tailgate. While Europe will receive a more coupé-like Sportback model, Audi has no plans to introduce this or certain other trim variants to the U.S. market. The vehicle features sharper, narrower LED headlight and taillight designs as standard, with optional OLED taillights and an appealing rear light strip complemented by an illuminated Audi four-rings logo. Interestingly, U.S. regulations prevent the inclusion of advanced digital matrix LED light-bending and glare-reducing technology available in European models. The cruise control and ADAS sensor array is cleverly concealed behind the four-rings logo on the grille, an engineering solution Audi adopted despite some feedback about the rings no longer having an aggressive, protruding 'float' appearance, preferring this over a clunky, conspicuous sensor pod.

Inside, the 2026 Q3 introduces a new dashboard design centered around a Digital Stage. This consolidates most adjustments within a 12.9-inch infotainment display, which sits atop the dash's passenger-facing edge. Mercifully, a physical volume-control knob is retained on the center console. The Digital Stage replaces the previous model's more traditional, embedded infotainment screen layout, integrating Audi’s Virtual Cockpit driver instrument cluster as part of an 11.9-inch display behind the steering wheel. This Android OS-based system, with an integrated Audi app store, allows for direct display of the navigation map within the Virtual Cockpit, improving ergonomics by eliminating the need to shift gaze to the center screen. Interior ambiance is enhanced by neat lighting solutions, including accent lights in the center console and dash, and optional fabric door panels featuring 300 laser-cut perforations that allow internal lights to illuminate the panels with various patterns and 30 programmable colors.

Driving the 2026 Q3 reveals immediate ergonomic improvements. The controls for exterior lights and wipers (left side) and the gear selector (right side) are now housed in two large stalks flanking the steering wheel, freeing up center console space for two reasonably sized cupholders. The center console also includes a cooled wireless phone-charging pad, though its sliding cover may not appear in U.S. models. Our test drive in a European-spec Q3 near Glasgow, Scotland, highlighted performance differences from the U.S. version. The European model featured a choice of three suspensions, including a variable setup with two-valve damper control, which was a marked improvement over the outgoing car’s nonadjustable American-market setup. Previous criticisms of light, uncommunicative steering and unsettled body control were non-existent with the 2026 Q3's revised variable-rate steering system and improved suspension damping, which delivered better feel and chassis control. While this conclusion is somewhat moot for U.S. buyers, who will receive a single, fixed-suspension package, Audi aims for a sportier rather than floaty comfort feel, offering cautious optimism for the American version.

Another significant complaint about the old Q3 was its acceleration. Even the more powerful 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine (228 horsepower, 258 lb-ft) resulted in a 0-60 mph time of 7.8 seconds for the nearly 4,000-pound Q3 Quattro S Line. For 2026, all Q3s come standard with Quattro all-wheel drive and a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine generating 255 hp and 273 lb-ft. This, combined with a quicker-shifting seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (replacing the old eight-speed torque-converter automatic) and launch-control starts, is projected by Audi to achieve a vastly quicker 0-60 mph time of 5.5 seconds. While official U.S. numbers might vary slightly due to emissions tuning (resulting in a 6-horsepower and 22-lb-ft deficit compared to equivalent Euro versions), the car unequivocally feels significantly gutsier and more satisfying. The driving experience is further enhanced by a