There’s a characterful thrum that resonates
around Johannesburg’s CBD regardless of the hour. This noise is indicative of
its energy, building in pitch and vigour as the city slowly awakens. It’s just
past five a.m. and the sky above is yet to turn from the black of night to the
dawn’s deep purple. While the likes of Newtown and Hillbrow never sleep, here
it’s derelict and eerily quiet by comparison. A weary security guard and an old
newspaper are the only signs of movement at this hour. It blows gently down a
cracked city side street like tumbleweed in an old western movie. But the
drinking holes and saloons in this part of the city’s centre are not as quaint
as those in Atlantic City or even Tombstone, Arizona. Here they’re adorned with
burglar bars and graffiti, characterised by shattered windows and faded signs
above their doors embossed with the words: Cash for scrap, Gearbox Den, Jumbo
Cash and Carry and XY’s Engineering Works. Suddenly, an earthy thrum builds
from over the horizon, breaking the serenity of the dawn. Only the enchanting
wail of a straight-six can compete with the emotive allure of this five-pot’s
off-beat burble as it reverberates off the heavy, steel-trellised doors of the
adjacent factories and panel beating shops.
The
RS Q3 trades too much driver involvement in pursuit of ease of operation and
usability for tastes, and it doesn’t have quite enough dynamic fun factor to
maintain the driver’s interest
As the light rises our Midnight Blue RS Q3,
fresh from its Johannesburg International Motor show reveal, pulls up alongside
an old abandoned C-Class. We examine the rusted corpse, making sure our doors
are locked. Stripped of its wheels and lights, with cracked windows and rusted
discs, it is an ominous reminder of the scourge that pierces the underbelly
that is eGoli.
Inside,
the Q3 is another example of what Audi does best - offering a high quality
interior with a nice ambience that is far better than any of its competitors
can offer
We press on, and the graffiti and murals
that adorn almost every wall start to evolve from nuisance to nouveau riche,
underlying the changing nature and rebirth of the CBD and the growing vibrancy
of fashionable areas like the Maboneng Precinct. As we reach our shoot
location, art studios, trendy restaurants, culinary schools and advertising
agencies provide a fresh visual backdrop and strong contrast to the hard
concrete bypass overhead. Lens man Till sets up some very pricey equipment,
aiming to catch the first glimmers of morning light while keeping an eye on the
informal audience watching him.
Wheel-mounted
paddles allow for manual control when desired
It’s here, deep in the city’s sleepy centre
that the Audi’s chiselled lines and architectural forms start to take shape as
the sun’s rays light the surrounds. I proceed to examine its detail: the
delicacy of its futuristic daytime running lights, its understated RS
nomenclature and form, subtle rear diffuser, rounded wheelarches and high-lined
flanks.
What’s interesting for me is that it has
taken full RS treatment to breathe an element of emotion and attraction into
the standard cookie-cutter Q3’s understated (read drab) form. It’s not as
overtly executed as Affalterbach’s A45 AMG – and that’s good thing. Visual
highlights include red RS-badged calipers, multi-spoke anthracite 18-inch rims
and gargantuan 365mm wave-shaped front discs (310mm ventilated discs do duty at
the rear). In isolation, the RS Q3’s designers have worked wonders, but it will
need more to steal attention from Range Rover’s popular Evoque, with which it
competes.
Optional
7-inch multimedia and nav system is relatively easy to use
This isn’t the first time Audi’s quattro
GmbH tuning division has dipped a toe into the SUV world. Its first, rather
unsuccessful attempt was the unhinged Q7 V12 TDI, a lofty two-and-a half tonne
behemoth with a 368kW twin-turbo 6.0-litre diesel engine. Intimately acquainted
with under steer, its dynamics failed to justify a weighty price tag.
