Here’s a way to signal whether you’re a driver who’s all about sporty looks… or sporty performance
SINGAPORE — Here’s the Audi Q2 1.4 TFSI, which we’ll categorise as “newish” in the market, since before this you could have your Q2 as a 1.0 TFSI, a 1.0 TFSI Sport or a Q2 1.4 TFSI Sport
The “sport” makes all the difference here, and it essentially denotes a package of cosmetic upgrades. On the outside a Q2 Sport is distinguished by a different design for the front grille, bumpers and rear diffusers — look for grey where you normally find black, and flashes of extra chrome.
Here’s a handy cheat sheet with the Sport car in red:

Inside, the Sport versions have dashboard inlays with red, and different seats with a more racy design.
The Q2 1.4 TFSI you see here is what to buy if you can live without all that but want the extra thrust of the bigger engine.
While the 1.0 is a lovely little powerplant, all eager and thrummy, the 1.4 is noticeably more grunty. It lops a good 1.8 seconds off the sprint time to 100km/h, with the 1.4 taking just 8.5 seconds, and if you’re heavy footed you’ll tease the occasional chirp from the front wheels as they struggle to contain the engine’s ample torque output.

The added muscle works well with the Q2’s eager handling, too, particularly in the way the steering feels both lively and alert. Being a crossover, the little Audi does rumble over rough tarmac with more boominess than you’d find in, say, an A3 Sportback, but at least it doesn’t jostle you around in your seat as if the suspension had been inspired by pogo sticks.
The 1.4 engine has the admirable ability to shut down half its cylinders on the fly, too, like the 2.5-litre version of Mazda’s CX-5. Cylinder deactivation isn’t a new technology, but it’s nice to see it become increasingly commonplace. And in the Audi it’s been refined to the stage where you can’t tell when the switch between two and four cylinders occurs, unless you look at the instruments.

While it has a smooth, clever and torquey engine, however, the Q2 1.4 TFSI doesn’t come with much in the way of equipment. There are larger and better equipped cars for the money  — the aforementioned CX-5 being one of them, along with the Toyota Harrier and Honda CR-V — and choosing the Audi means doing without a powered tailgate or reverse camera or… heck, it doesn’t even come with pockets on the front seatbacks or a USB port, which is fairly unforgivable in this day and age.

Needless to say, what the Q2 range does offer is plenty of badge for the money, and if you have to have one, this configuration is our pick of the bunch. Adding the Sport package to the 1.4 TFSI engine makes to Q2 too expensive to justify, and doing so for the 1.0 version does little more than strike a pose.

NEED TO KNOW AUDI Q2 1.4 TFSI
Engine 1395,cc, turbo in-line four
Power 150hp at 5000 to 6000rpm
Torque 250Nm at 1500-3500rpm
Gearbox 7-speed dual-clutch
0-100km/h 8.5 seconds
Top Speed 212km/h
Efficiency 5.3L/100km
VES B
Agent Premium Automobiles
Price S$157,883 including Certificate Of Entitlement
Available Now