Audi S2 Reviews

Audi appears to have avoided a potential sales disaster, despite a decline in buyers. The German brand has managed to pivot away from plans to push hard into the electric vehicle market, dropping plans to end its internal combustion engine development as soon as next year. This could prove a crucial moment in the brand’s history and allow it to regain lost ground to Japanese rival Lexus.

Audi has left Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche trailing in its dust when it comes to SUV bragging rights. We drive the lap record-setting new RS Q8 Performance to find out how it stacks up as a performance luxury SUV.Boasting the most powerful internal combustion engine ever offered by Audi and a hi-tech chassis, it puts the 'Sports' in Sports Utility Vehicle.

Audi is hoping more power is the key to unlocking more sales for its e-tron GT electric sports sedan.

Audi's electric cars have come a long way in a short time, and its newest and smallest electric car might just be the pick of the litter.

The updated Audi S3 Sportback delivers serious power, sharp handling, and premium technology but how does it stand up against its rivals?

Volkswagen Group seems to be in the midst of developing and launching a series of small electric cars to satisfy its European markets, according to reports.

Sound has never been a hotter topic in the world of cars than it has been in the past decade. From the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles to even the more muted soundtrack of modern F1 cars, the noise cars make has become a major talking point.

One of Audi’s most popular models is getting a modern makeover.The big news is the Audi Q3 isn’t going all-electric, instead it will use petrol power with mild hybrid assistance and plug-in hybrid grunt.Audi isn’t giving up on diesel either with an oil-burner variant confirmed for Europe.The base mild-hybrid petrol, which is a likely starter for Australia, uses a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with mild-hybrid tech and produces 110kW.This is joined by purely petrol motors that make 150kW and 320Nm and a 2.0-litre unit that makes 195kW and 400Nm paired with all-wheel drive.A 110kW/360Nm diesel engine caps off the internal combustion engine variants.Sitting at the top of the range is the plug-in hybrid version, which pairs a petrol engine with an electric motor for a total of 100kW/400Nm.This is combined with a sizeable 25.7kWh battery, which can deliver an electric-only driving range of 120km as tested under the benchmark WLTP cycle.It can be charged at up to 50kW via a DC fast charger that can top up the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in under half an hour.Audi claims it has done substantial work on the suspension to improve the driving dynamics and a smoother commute.The Q3 sports a fresh face, with a big bold grille featuring lattice work design, big side intakes and sleek headlights with pixel LED styling. This is added to broader shoulders and a sleek side profile and curvy panel creases.The Q3 will be rammed with active driver aids and hi-tech features, including a 12.8-inch multimedia display and a 11.9-inch digital driver display. Included in the new safety tech is the controversial driver attention warning, which uses a camera to watch the driver for signs of drowsiness or a lack of concentration. In other brands this tech goes off for menial reasons such as looking at the rear-view mirror or squinting into the sunlight.The new Q3 will launch in Europe later this year, with an Australian arrival likely for the first half of 2026.

Audi has globally revealed the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions of its new, third-generation Q5 mid-size SUV ahead of a launch in European markets in the third quarter of 2025.Available in both Q5 and Q5 Sportback guises, the PHEV powertrain is offered with two different system output tunes – 220kW/450Nm and 270kW/500Nm. This is unchanged from the previous-generation model, with Australia only getting the higher tune.Both new Q5 PHEVs feature a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 185kW and an electric motor integrated into the dual-clutch automatic transmission.Audi claims the 220kW version can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 6.2 seconds, whereas the 270kW version can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.1 seconds. Both claims are regardless of the body type.A big change with the new-generation Q5 PHEV is it now gets a larger 25.9kWh (up from 17.9kWh) battery pack that’s claimed to offer up to 100km of electric range, according to WLTP testing.The previous-generation Q5 PHEV only offered 55km of electric range, according to lenient NEDC testing.The peak AC charging rate has been increased from two-phase 7.4kW to three-phase 11kW. This allows the battery charge to charge from 0-100 per cent in 2.5 hours.In addition, Audi has increased the regenerative braking performance. The car’s electric motor can now recover up to 88kW of power when slowing down and feed this into the high-voltage battery.Audi claims 90 per cent of the deceleration process can now be done by the electric motor regenerative braking, meaning the hydraulic wheels braked are only used for harder braking manoeuvers.There are now also three levels of regenerative braking that can be chosen with the paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. There’s also an automatic mode that uses navigation data to predict how much regenerative braking to use.Two drive modes are available, EV and hybrid. The former operates exclusively on battery power at speeds up to 140km/h until the charge is depleted.Hybrid mode, on the other hand, operates strategically to choose which energy source is the most efficient depending on how and where you’re driving. In the city it’ll use EV power and at higher speeds it’ll use the petrol engine.Like many PHEVs, the car is capable of charging the battery using the petrol engine when on the move. Below speeds of 65km/h the battery charge is maintained, but above this speed the battery can be charged up to 75 per cent.As standard the car comes with sport suspension, 19-inch alloy wheels, red brake calipers, under centre console storage, 15W ventilated wireless charger, two USB-C ports in the front and rear, tri-zone climate control and sport front seats with leather/artificial leather upholstery, and sliding and reclining second-row seats.Opting for the 270kW version gets you LED headlights ‘plus’ and LED tail-lights.Boot space for the regular Q5 PHEV is 438 litres with the second row upright, expanding to 1358 litres with the seats folded.With the Q5 Sportback PHEV, on the other hand, it has 433 litres of boot space with the second row upright, expanding to 1300 litres with the seats folded.Pricing for the Audi Q5 PHEV in Europe starts at €63,400 (~A$113,200), and extends to €74,300 (~A$132,650).At this stage it’s still unclear if or when the new Audi Q5 PHEV will be coming to Australia. We’ve reached out to Audi Australia and will update this story once we hear back.The outgoing Audi Q5 55 TFSIe PHEV first arrived locally back in 2023 and is offered in both regular wagon and Sportback body styles.The regular combustion-powered third-generation Q5 range still hasn’t launched in Australia yet, despite it being revealed in September last year. It’s still expected to arrive in the second half of 2025.

Audi's best car you might never drive?