Audi Q3 review

Whatever your size and shape, you're unlikely to feel cramped in the front of the Q3. Head room is generous, the seats slide back a long way to maximise leg room and the interior feels surprisingly wide and spacious.

Both front doors have useful pockets that are long enough to fit a one-litre bottle of water, and there’s also a handy non-slip cubby directly beneath the air conditioning controls, which is useful for throwing keys or a wallet into.

Unlike the smaller Q2, which is no roomier inside than a regular family hatchback, the Q3 feels like a proper SUV in the back. There’s loads of head room thanks to a high roof and, even if you’re more than six feet tall, you're highly unlikely to feel your knees pressing against the back of the seat in front.

However, the Volvo XC40 has even more rear leg room, as does the BMW X1, so either of those cars is a better bet if you regularly need to carry around lanky rear passengers.

Each rear passenger gets a door bin big enough to swallow a small bottle of water, while a central armrest with two cupholders is optional with entry-level Sport trim and standard across the rest of the range.

The Q3's rear seats split and fold in a handy 40/20/40 arrangement, which gives more flexibility than you get with the more common 60/40 split that many rivals offer.

The rear seatbases can also be slid back and forth (this time in a 60/40 split) to prioritise rear leg room or boot space depending on your needs. You can even recline the seatbacks for an impromptu snooze.

Even with the rear seats slid all the way back, the Q3 has more space for luggage than an X1 or XC40, although the Volkswagen Tiguan offers even more. And should you slide the seats forward, the Q3 has a whopping 675 litres of luggage space – more than you get in most SUVs in the class above.

Fold down the rear seats and you should be able to slot your bike in without having to remove its front wheel, so a couple of buggies or sets of golf clubs will be no problem.