Is Fiora's Q supposed to treat her like she's in melee range?

I don't know whether this should go in the bug forum or not, because it might be a conscious design decision, but if it is I think it's holding Fiora back significantly.

Currently on live, when Fiora hits an enemy with Q, even from max range, she seems to be treated as if she's in melee range during the attack. This feel like a big problem to me, and presents a major weakness for a character who ought to be all about skillfully moving around the enemy's range and going in only when the time is right. Hitting a Q, especially from max range, should be the perfect, "Aha!" moment, where Fiora strikes an enemy from juuust outside of their attack range. Instead, it currently EXTENDS their attack range, and leaves her open to an immediate counter attack.

Take Irelia for instance. Her stun is the most important ability for me to riposte in lane, and it's basically the only way I can win trades and prevent her from all-inning me whenever she feels like it. Normally, my Q range is just far enough that she has to walk forward in order to cast E, and the speed up from hitting a vital should allow me to escape in time. However, as it is right now, she can IMMEDIATELY hit me with E, while I'm still in the lunge animation, and long before I can use my riposte to counter the attack. Against an Irelia who is aware of this, (and I have fought a couple) the lane is practically unwinnable. She will always save her stun for when I go in for a Q, and therefore I can never harass her, and I'm forced to get whittled down while she sustains in lane.

I even noticed it with non-targetted abilities when I was laning against a Hecarim. At level 1 we both skilled in Q, however whenever I went in to strike him, he pressed Q as well. Visually, I was CLEARLY out of range of his Q, but I still took damage. After several "trades" like this, I was actually forced out of lane, even though I had been hitting his vital points from max range as often as I could. It was even worse once he skilled into his charge, because then he could INSTANTLY stun me, just the same as Irelia could, simply by charging as soon as I Q'd him, and he practically teleported on top of me.

Again, I don't know if this is a bug or intended design, but if it's intended, it is a serious weakness for Fiora, and will continue to hold her back. Maybe devs are afraid that Fiora will have too much power if she could Q without opponents being able to retaliate, but as it is right now, I don't think any numbers change will help her as long as she has to force herself into unfavorable trades just to harass properly with her Q.