For Audi fans, the Q3 is famous for being the only model with only one size of engine across the range. Be it diesel or petrol, this child of the European crossover market only comes with 2.0-liter engines, in manual, automatic, front-drive or quattro configurations.
That conception is getting turned on its head in China, where a test vehicle has been spotted, supposedly working out the kinks from a 1.8-liter turbocharged engine which will be ready in early 2014.
CarNewsChina says this will bring the price down from the current CNY285,000 to about CNY220,000, which is a 23% price drop, well worth putting up with a little less power.
But the test prototype has "30 TFSI" written on the back. Surely, that means it's got a 3-liter TFSI engine, right? Well, no. We did out own little bit of research and found in china the A4L sedan has a 30 TFSI basic model which is powered by a 1.8-liter engine, the very one that's going into the Q3.
The output will be the same between the two cars, meaning 160 PS and 250 Nm of torque. 6-speed manual and multitronic gearboxes should be fitted to the Q3 30 TFSI.
CarNewsChina says this will bring the price down from the current CNY285,000 to about CNY220,000, which is a 23% price drop, well worth putting up with a little less power.
But the test prototype has "30 TFSI" written on the back. Surely, that means it's got a 3-liter TFSI engine, right? Well, no. We did out own little bit of research and found in china the A4L sedan has a 30 TFSI basic model which is powered by a 1.8-liter engine, the very one that's going into the Q3.
The output will be the same between the two cars, meaning 160 PS and 250 Nm of torque. 6-speed manual and multitronic gearboxes should be fitted to the Q3 30 TFSI.