Turbocharged engine from Audi S3 likely to slot into hot new
Q2 baby SUV
The new Audi
Q2 doesn’t arrive in showrooms until the end of the year, but Audi is already planning to
up the excitement level on 2016’s must-have SUV.
An SQ2 model is likely to use the four-cylinder 2.0-litre
turbo from the Audi S3 –
with 296bhp and quattro four-wheel drive. It would slot into the maker’s
growing SQ range of hot SUVs alongside theSQ5 and new
SQ7.
“It is something we’re looking at,” admitted Stephan
Knirsch, Audi’s Board member for Technical Development. “It would be relatively
easy to do with MQB. The Q2 shares a lot with the A3, but we have to see what
appetite there is for the more expensive Q2 models first.”
Knirsch admitted that it might be possible to pay around
€45,000 (£35,000) for a Q2 if all the option boxes were ticked. And with prices
for the Q2 set to run close to those of the equivalent A3 Sportback, we’d
expect the basic price of an SQ2 to be in the region of £33,000.
The new Q2 SUV already features the same Progressive
Steering system as the S3, so adding that car’s drivetrain is a logical next
step. However, Audi insiders have hinted that there may be even more power in
the pipeline, possibly featuring the 362bhp five-cylinder engine from the RS3 – and the hot version
of the Q2’s bigger brother, the RS Q3.
With 1.0 and 1.4-litre petrol or 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesel
Q2s arriving in the UK at the end of this year, and a 188bhp 2.0-litre petrol
coming next year, it’s likely to be some time in 2018 before we see the SQ2.
source: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/audi/q2/95793/hot-audi-sq2-on-the-way
by Richard Ingram
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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