Life with an Audi Q3 | Fuel economy

Mo money, mo problems - to quote the immortal Notorious BIG. It is true that "lifestyle inflation" often accompanies increases in income. If you are upgrading from a mainstream economy car into something with a more premium slant, there are additional costs beyond the obvious initial price tag to consider.

Being the well-informed, inquisitive type of buyer that you are, you will no doubt have already done homework on the subject before making that next step up.

Fuel economy is a big consideration. Our last three-month long-termer, the humble Suzuki Baleno 1.5 GLX, had a small 37l tank and a low average consumption under 6l/100km, which made visits to the petrol station infrequent.

Life with our latest three-month tester, the Audi Q3 35 TFSI Black Edition, has brought with it certain adjustments. This is not one of those cars you can pour R150 into and expect to make it stretch. That amount might not even prompt two of the illuminated bars of its fuel level display.

Look, the 1.4l turbocharged-petrol Audi is by no means a guzzler with its four-cylinder unit, but neither is it what you would call a fuel-sipper around town.

On the open road, it is a different story though. If your commutes are generally highway based then you might find yourself quite happy with your prospects of eking out every drop. We managed to get the car down to as low as 5l/100km on our first ever outing with the car, down the M1 from Parktown, joining the N1 and unhooking at Winnie Mandela Drive in Johannesburg.

Of course, our speed hovered a little under (sometimes slightly over) the 100km/h mark, taking advantage of coasting opportunities. Based on that figure and the 58l tank size, you could see a range of over 1,000km. We intend to put this to the test on a proper cross-country jaunt in the coming weeks.

The motor delivers acceptable poke once the turbocharger spools, keeping things on the boil where more momentum is required. Output is 110kW and 250Nm. The thirst of the Q3 comes into play when you get off the freeway and trundle around town.

To be fair, Audi does offer a fairly realistic mixed claimed consumption figure of 7.2l/100km. But in the real world, from our experience with the vehicle, that becomes more like 8.6l/100km. It does not help that the six-speed S-Tronic gearbox tends to linger between shifts in slower patterns of driving, which winds the engine up more than necessary.

These days we have taken to shifting up manually as early as the system will allow, tipping the traditional gear lever forward and relishing its springy action. We should also not forget that weight plays a role in proceedings. This is an SUV after all, even though it falls into the more compact side of the spectrum, the quoted vehicle mass is 1,545kg - for reference an A4 sedan with the same engine is 1,470kg.

At the current inland rate of R24.25/l of unleaded 95, it costs about R1,406 to fill up the tank from empty. Now, as we said early, the Q3 is no guzzler in relative terms. For a buyer downsizing from a larger vehicle with a bigger displacement and older technology, it would be just what the doctor ordered.

But if you were stepping into the Q3 from a small normally-aspirated hatchback, you might need some time to acclimate. What some buyers might find good news is that a diesel derivative of the Q3 is on the cards. Although the economy of the Q3 might have us somewhat ambivalent, its other strengths, namely cabin refinement, quietness and a surefooted handling character, have left quite a positive impression so far.