The New Audi Q3 Might Have The Greatest Turn Signal Stalk Of All Time

While small crossovers designed to appeal to as many people as possible typically aren’t quirky, there are exceptions to every rule. This is the new Audi Q3, and it has one gloriously unusual detail that we need to talk about it. Audi’s reinvented the steering column stalk, and before you panic due to Audi’s recent history of capacitive touch controls, this actually seems to be done really well.

If you’re wondering where the Q3 fits in the lineup, it’s not quite Audi’s smallest, least expensive crossover everywhere in the world, but it fills that roles in North America. Built on the same transverse MQB Evo platform as the A3 and current Volkswagen Golf, it’s a practical thing sized just right for most cities. Not too big, not too small, just right for both carpooling and parallel parking downtown.

Unsurprisingly, the Q3 comes with a range of powertrains, starting off with a 147-horsepower 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mild hybrid powertrain and a 147-horsepower diesel, both of which probably won’t come to America. Instead, more likely U.S. offerings include a stout 261-horsepower two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and possibly a plug-in hybrid with a 19.7 kWh battery pack, a combined output of 268 horsepower and a WLTP all-electric range of 74.6 miles.

Obviously, since this is a luxury product, a well-specced Q3 will come loaded with toys, and some of them seem genuinely useful. For one, the wireless phone charger is actually cooled to mitigate cooking your phone. At the same time, a sliding rear bench seat that lets you trade off between cargo space and rear legroom, matrix LED headlights prevent blinding oncoming drivers, and you can train the Q3 to park in tight spaces by having it remember your inputs. On the more frivolous side, a 420-watt Sonos audio system promises to bang out the tunes, and ambient lighting actually shines through the cloth door card inserts. That’s all well and good, but we need to talk about the stalk.

See, Audi’s gone with an electronic column shifter in the new Q3, and that takes up space where the wiper stalk would normally go on most Audis. However, rather than hide the wiper controls in an infotainment sub-menu, Audi’s come up with a new stalk to do everything that’s unlike just about anything we’ve seen in the past 20 years or so.

The main function of the turn signal stalk works pretty much as normal, allowing you to flick the small, movable end of it up and down to indicate right and left, but not only is single-wipe and windscreen washer activation done through a button on the end of the stalk, there’s so much more to it than that. Because high beams are flashed or turned on by flicking the end of the stalk toward you or away from you, Audi’s actually added a second immobile layer to the stalk (really, a super-sized shroud) for further wiper controls. There’s a rotary wheel for setting wiper speed and a second button further inboard for the rear wiper. It all adds up to physical controls for everything you need in a wonderfully weird-looking package.

Visually, it’s vaguely reminiscent of the pods on the Citroën CX, or the wild stalks of the original Acura NSX, but it seems to work just about normal enough to not end up J.D. Power’d to death. It shouldn’t be a huge adjustment for anyone used to GM’s old all-in-one column stalk, for example. More importantly, it feels like a sign of fresh character. It feels like Audi’s been visually iterating on the same themes for the past 20-ish years, derivative twists on the language introduced by Walter de Silva. This new stalk is something new and exciting and surprisingly welcome.

On the whole, the new Audi Q3 looks highly competitive against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLA and BMW X1, even if the steering wheel controls are capacitive touch It still uses normal buttons and knobs just about everywhere else, the interior looks to be made of nice materials, and the top two powertrains promise plenty of punch. While Audi hasn’t announced U.S. trim levels and timing, don’t be surprised if we learn more within the next twelve months as that nifty stalk makes its way closer and closer to our shores.

Top graphic credit: Audi

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