There are no dynamic changes to this improved SQ2 and if you happen to be a student of Volkswagen Group performance models, you might be pretty familiar with the recipe on offer here. Namely, the award-winning EA888 version of the 2.0-litre TSI petrol turbo engine in 300PS form. Plus 4WD and a DSG 7-speed paddleshift auto gearbox. Pretty much what you'll find in a Golf R. And exactly as you'll find it with this car's two similarly priced compact SUV Volkswagen Group cousins, the Volkswagen T-Roc R and the CUPRA Ateca. Or perhaps not quite exactly. Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive dampers are optional (or in the case of the CUPRA, standard) on the other Wolfsburg models featuring this engineering package, but you can't have them at all here. Which seems something of an oversight on Audi's part. Unlike front-driven Q2 variants, quattro versions of this model like this one have proper sophisticated four-link suspension, but the ride of this SQ2 can still feel somewhat over firm on poorer surfaces.
It's still properly fast though. There's an actual (not limited) top speed of 155mph. And the 62mph sprint from rest is dispatched with impressive ferocity in just 4.9s, with torque that keeps pulling like a train up to 5,200rpm, so when you put your foot down in just about any gear, the car spears forward. True, there's a touch more body roll through the turns than you'd get in a Golf R or an Audi S3 but you'd expect the fractionally higher driving position to deliver that. An arguably greater issue is the way that this exacerbates the lack of lateral support provided by the sports seats.
