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I'm in Southern California and own a 2017 Q3. Perhaps I should have said fastback instead of coupe? I mean like all the other 4-door couple-like designs that have been coming out across brands.
To me, the Q3 has a much different look and feel to it from almost every angle, but particularly a side profile or rear quarter angle. The hatch glass is much more steeply raked and meets the roof further forward. The entire passenger compartment seems further forward too, with a pretty short and stubby hood. Ignoring that it is a CUV, from certain angles it reminds me of the roof line of the original TT with a vague symmetry to it. The Q3 is more like a hard-hat, while the Q5 is more like a baseball cap with the hood being the bill...
I know the camouflage in the Q3 spy shots might be confusing me, but I see much more of a shrunken second generation Q5. The hood is longer and the passenger compartment looks like it moved rearward slightly. The roof seems to extend further past the rear seats and the rear side glass between the C and D pillars seems larger while the rear hatch glass seems more vertical. However, it is not as boxy as the new Tiguan which reminds me of the RAV4 from 15+ years ago.
From the inside, our Q3 feels like a plush upgrade of our old B5 A4 cars. I drove both a sedan and an avant, which felt so similar that the only difference sometimes was rear-view mirror perspective and acoustics. The Q3 feels like a mix between the two, with the view out the back window similar to an avant (no trunk lid in sight) but the view of the car's inside more like the sedan because the rear cargo area is so short in length and the glass seems so close to the rear seats. It doesn't have that peering-down-a-tunnel effect of wagons and larger SUVs.
[QUOTE=carkarl;25133348...I know the camouflage in the Q3 spy shots might be confusing me, but I see much more of a shrunken second generation Q5...[/QUOTE]
The camo is confusing, but to me it seems the "clam shell/wrap around" rear hatch door is gone in the new Q3. This feature alone suggested (to me) a strong link to the Q5. Seeing it gone in the new Q3 tells me that in the flesh this new Q3 will look a lot like a bunch of generic SUV's.
Shokhead, I guess you feel that those images demonstrate the Q3 looking just like a small Q5...?
To me, there is a clearly different relationship between the hood, windshield, and tail glass angles. The Q3 rear glass is steeply raked and looks more symmetric to the front glass, while the Q5 rear glass is more vertical and asymmetrical to the windshield. The difference in the B pillar also makes the Q3 cabin look more centred than the Q5 which seems to sprawl out to the rear.
I'll admit these pictures look strange to me. But, then I realized, I'm 6'4" and don't spend time looking up at Audis from this angle! :-)
Oh, and today I remembered another thing I've seen. The Porsche Macan and Q3 rear-ends actually have very similar angles, while the Macan and Q5 have more similar front-end angles.
Here are photos of a last generation Q5 and a current (soon to be updated) Q3. To me these two SUV's bear a strong family likeness, especially with regard to the rear hatch. The wheelbase and overall length alone mean they cannot have identical proportions from every angle, but overall I think they are very similar design-wise. Enough, I do not want to fight on this issue, but to me the current Q3 and last gen Q5 have always seemed very similar looking.
Last edited by irenesbob; 04-03-2018 at 08:45 PM.
Reason: typos
Sure, no fight intended on my part. I definitely see a resemblance too, and I can see I am in the minority in fixating on the small differences.
Speaking of family resemblance, I think it's amazing how well Audi has kept that going over the years. Here's a B5 generation avant, to get a color like the others shared here. I had a similar A4 in volcano mica black for almost 18 years. If they keep up the design work, there will still be something familiar about the options another 15-20 years from now!
Shokhead, I guess you feel that those images demonstrate the Q3 looking just like a small Q5...?
To me, there is a clearly different relationship between the hood, windshield, and tail glass angles. The Q3 rear glass is steeply raked and looks more symmetric to the front glass, while the Q5 rear glass is more vertical and asymmetrical to the windshield. The difference in the B pillar also makes the Q3 cabin look more centred than the Q5 which seems to sprawl out to the rear.
I'll admit these pictures look strange to me. But, then I realized, I'm 6'4" and don't spend time looking up at Audis from this angle! :-)
Oh, and today I remembered another thing I've seen. The Porsche Macan and Q3 rear-ends actually have very similar angles, while the Macan and Q5 have more similar front-end angles.
...Speaking of family resemblance, I think it's amazing how well Audi has kept that going over the years. Here's a B5 generation avant, to get a color like the others shared here. I had a similar A4 in volcano mica black for almost 18 years. If they keep up the design work, there will still be something familiar about the options another 15-20 years from now!
I agree. It sort of disgusts me to see what some of the new MB vehicles look like compared to the oler MB's with their generation-to-generation DNA keeping things in check.
04-03-2018, 08:01 AM
