That's the thing with the RS4, it just constantly wants to play. Remember when you were a kid? Come rain, sleet or snow, your mum couldn't keep you in, could she? Well, that's the RS4 in a nutshell!!!

Power for this awesome beast comes from a thumping great 4.2 Litre V8, with FSI direct fuel injection that produces 420hp, and freely revs up to 8250 rpm! Trust me, that is a lot of engine for the size of the vehicle.

Oh! And the sound!! Especially when you depress the little S button on the dashboard, which opens up the cut-out flaps in the twin tail pipes. I tell you, you really have to hear it to believe it!!

All that power is then funneled through a slick 6 speed manual gearbox, and out to the wheels via Audi's famous Quattro permanent all-wheel-drive system which offers asymmetric/dynamic torque distribution and a self-locking Torsen centre differential.

Braking is handled by ventilated cross-drilled discs of 365 mm diameter on the front, and 324 mm at the rear. In real life, this produces exceptional braking, which is rather fortunate because this car is a real rocket on wheels!

The RS4 can go from a standing start to 100kph in 4.8 seconds, and can reach 200kph in just 16.6 seconds. The speedometer shows a tad over 300kph, but the actual top speed is electronically limited to 250kph.

Naturally, with performance figures like that, the Audi RS4 carries a whole host of safety related features, but enough about that, you can read that blah blah in the spec listings.

In fact, in my mind, the biggest safety feature on the whole vehicle is the fact that it handles like it's glued to the ground. Honestly, you've heard of point and click technology in other areas of life, well this is that in automotive guise.

Mind you, I have to admit to one thing on the RS4 that did drive me around the bend, and it wasn't the steering wheel.

It was the ridiculous Sat-Nav system which Audi has fitted. Just to give you a little idea how bad it was, there I was in Detroit City looking for the MGM Grand (a pretty famous landmark, I'd have said!). Yet the unit constantly told me that it was unable to calculate a route from my position. I drove around for nearly half an hour as it kept repeating this. I finally gave up and asked a man who was casually leaning against a wall. He tapped the wall and said, "This is it, take the next right for the front door". Just for laughs and giggles, I hit the info button again. Yeah you guessed it, the unit still couldn't find the #%#@&% building!!!

To be honest though, picking on something like that is a little like pointing out that Cindy Crawford had a mole on her face.

Trust me, I could live with that one minor imperfection. After all, the rest of it is unbelievable. It has stunning good looks, exceptional road holding capabilities, a four door luxurious cabin, 13.4 cu ft of trunk space, and best of all...it goes like a bat out of hell!