Quick Lap2 Nov 20265 min read

Bread, lunch and a herd of cows. Oh, and the new Q3.

Audi launched the new Q3 by sending us beyond the map, from a family bakery in Dubai to a dairy farm in Al Ain. I came home with my own Audi loaf.

Ihab Ahmed

Dubai · Cars, and the bills that follow

One day, three stops, two versions of the Q3 and four of us to a car.

—/5

Verdict: one to remember

A launch that was about the drive, not the drape. The Q3 is a small, comfortable family SUV, and the full review is coming.

Good

Small, nimble and easy in the city, with good visibility all round.
Four adults and their bags on board, and it never felt cramped.
360-degree cameras take the guesswork out of tight spots.

Less good

The 204 hp Sportback is snappier, but on 20s you feel more of the road.
The comfier 150 hp SUV is noticeably slower when you ask for more.
The tech is fairly basic by today's standards. Sufficient, not special.

Most car launches follow the same script. You arrive at a showroom, someone pulls a cover off a car, there is a speech and a photo, and you go home having sat in it for about four minutes. Audi, Al Nabooda Automobiles skipped most of that for the all-new Q3, handed over the keys and sent us beyond the map.

The idea starts with a book. Beyond the Map is a guide to 30 places across the UAE that most of us drive straight past, from independent cafés and family-run restaurants to farms and places to stay. Over roughly two weeks, Audi took groups out in the cars to three of them, while the same three spots hosted public Audi pop-ups from 27 October to 9 November. My day started at the Al Nabooda showroom in Dubai with check-in, a briefing on the two versions of the Q3 we would be driving and, finally, the keys.

A launch you actually drive

The format is simple, and it works because you do not learn much about a car parked under showroom lights. You learn about it in Dubai traffic at lunchtime, on the highway out to Al Ain and on a sandy track leading to a farm gate, and we got all three in one day. We drove in convoy with a walkie-talkie in every car and four of us to each one, which made the day feel less like a press event and more like a road trip with people you met an hour ago.

The silver Beyond the Map book beside a printed itinerary card listing the day's three stops, on a black showroom table. — The book, and the plan for the day. Three stops, and back to the showroom by seven.

A hand holding a black walkie-talkie in front of the Audi Q3's steering wheel and digital driver's display. — One walkie-talkie per car. Convoy rules.

Juntas, and a loaf with rings on it

The first stop, 35 minutes from the showroom, was Juntas, a family-run bakery set inside an Emirati home. You walk in through a gate covered in bougainvillea, past a quiet courtyard, and into a bright room lined with bread. Audi had clearly been busy, because the rings were on the wall, on the cups and, my favourite touch of the day, scored into the crust of the sourdough. Shelves of it.

There was a signature drinks menu made for the day, with a raspberry matcha, a saffron latte, an iced date latte and a rose lemonade. The coffee was genuinely good, the pastries were better and the bread was the best of the lot. Then they handed us goodie bags with our very own Audi loaf inside. I have never been given bread at a car launch before. I would like this to become the norm.

Shelves of sourdough loaves at Juntas, each with the four Audi rings scored into the crust. — Not a bad shelf to be parked in front of.

A hand holding an iced coffee with the Audi rings printed on the cup, in front of a large set of rings on the wall at Juntas. — Iced coffee, matching rings.

I have never been given bread at a car launch before. I would like this to become the norm.

Lunch at Houd, beyond the map

Twenty minutes later we pulled into a sandy car park at Houd, a restaurant built around traditional Emirati food. It has a palm-frond roof, stone tables and cacti out front, plus a set of rings above the door for the occasion. Lunch arrived in a silver box with one line printed on the lid: a little fuel for what's beyond the map.

Open silver lunch box at Houd with lamb over spiced rice, cheese samosas and a pomegranate salad. — A little fuel for what's beyond the map.

Luqaimat glazed with date syrup and sesame seeds in a white paper cup at Houd. — Luqaimat with date syrup.

Inside was lamb ghouzi, slow-cooked and served over spiced rice, with cheese samosas and a rocca salad scattered with pomegranate. Dessert was luqaimat with date syrup. It was exquisite and genuinely different, the kind of proper Emirati lunch most of us would never have found on our own, which was the whole point of the day. Outside, the cars waited in a neat line in the sand, ready for the longest leg.

A red Audi Q3 at the front of a line of Q3s parked on sand outside Houd, with trees behind. — The convoy, taking a breather while we finished lunch.

Guernsey Dairy, from cow to cup

That leg, about an hour and ten minutes down the highway to Al Ain, is where the cars finally got to stretch. Guernsey Dairy is a family-run farm that is usually closed to the public, and on the way in every car rolled through a wheel bath to sanitise its tyres before entering the farm. I have driven a lot of cars, and that was a first.

Brown and white cows lined up at a metal feeding rail at Guernsey Dairy in Al Ain, in late afternoon light. — The herd, waiting for their own lunch.

What followed was the most fun part of the day. There was a lounge set up among the hay bales, fresh milk poured into little Audi glasses and fresh cheese to go with it. Then came baskets of greens so that we could go and feed the herd ourselves, and the cows were very, very keen. Nobody was taking themselves too seriously by this point, which is exactly how a day like this should end. We swapped into the Sportback for the drive home.

A hand holding a small glass of fresh milk printed with the Audi rings, in front of hay bales at Guernsey Dairy. — From cow to cup.

Ihab in sunglasses, tongue out, taking a selfie beside a brown and white cow at the feeding rail at Guernsey Dairy. — Making a new friend at the feeding rail.

So what is the new Q3 like?

This is the third-generation Q3, and Audi had two versions on the drive. The Q3 SUV TFSI in Progress trim has 150 hp and front-wheel drive. The Q3 Sportback, the one with the sloping coupé-style roofline, came as the TFSI quattro in Progress Black, with 204 hp, all-wheel drive, S line styling, adaptive damping, 20-inch wheels, digital matrix LED headlights and a Sonos sound system. Both use a seven-speed S tronic gearbox. I will not say too much here because I would rather spend a proper week with one first, but a day across city, highway and dirt still tells you a fair bit.

Red Audi Q3 SUV from the rear three-quarter on a dirt track under trees at Guernsey Dairy. — The Q3 SUV, perfectly at home on a farm track.

Matte grey Audi Q3 Sportback from the rear three-quarter on brick paving under a tree at Guernsey Dairy, showing its sloping roofline and dark 20-inch wheels. — The Sportback from behind, on its darkened 20-inch wheels.

It is small, comfortable and nimble, and in the city it is lovely, easy to place and easy to park, with good visibility all round and 360-degree cameras that take the guesswork out of tight spots. With four adults on board it never felt cramped, and there was plenty of room for everyone's bags (and bread). Inside there is an 11.9-inch digital driver's display and a 12.8-inch central touchscreen. The tech is fairly basic by today's standards, but it is sufficient, and our phones connected without any fuss.

I drove both engines. The 204 hp Sportback is the snappier of the two and quicker to respond when you put your foot down, but it is also the more sports-focused car, and on 20-inch wheels you feel more of the road. The 150 hp SUV is the comfier, more relaxed one, but noticeably slower when you ask for more. Both did really well on every surface we threw at them, so the choice comes down to whether you value comfort or pace.

The Audi Q3 SUV cabin seen through the open driver's door in the showroom, with the steering wheel, digital driver's display and central touchscreen. — The Q3 SUV cabin through the open driver's door, back at the showroom.

View from the driver's seat of an Audi Q3 on the highway back to Dubai, with the sun setting through the side window. — Heading home as the sun went down.

As launches go, this is one I will remember, not for the speeches but because Audi let the car do what it is actually for, which is getting a group of people somewhere worth going and back again. As for the Q3, it is a nicely judged small family SUV and an easy car to spend a day in, and the full review is coming. In the meantime, Beyond the Map has 27 more places in it and I have only been to three. Which one should I drive to next?

Disclosure: Audi, Al Nabooda Automobiles invited me on the Beyond the Map drive and provided the cars, food and drinks for the day.