40 years of Audi Sport: TT RS meets legendary Sport Quattro

Plus, because the power gulf is a relatively trifling 89bhp and the older car weighs around 400kg less, the Quattro feels nigh-on as quick as its offspring in the real world, if only after the screeching KKK turbocharger has awoken and kicked you violently down the road.

Whether the Quattro is quicker or not on paper (it’s not) is somewhat beside the point. Driving this rally-bred car is, of course, a much more visceral experience, one that places a great deal more demand on your concentration, your hand-eye coordination and your confidence.

It rears up on its haunches under load and nosedives hilariously under braking, its lively rear end is only semi-predictable in fast corners and the three-bar turbocharger takes nearly full control of the steer ing wheel above 4500rpm.

You feel your forearms tensing to keep the bonnet pointed in the right direction through the corners, and each gearshift is a Tetris-like exercise in predictive dexterity – not to mention raw strength.

The TT, of course, is at once more predictable, more malleable and – crucially – less unnerving. It changes direction with pinpoint accuracy, unbreaking in its rigid commitment to your chosen line, and stays flawlessly composed even on greasy, shattered country lanes.

Is it as fun as the Group B refugee? Of course not – it was never going to be.

This is Mozart versus Mötley Crüe. What it gains in predictability and raw technical prowess you can argue the TT has lost in charisma and romance.

But that would do a disservice to its propensity to make an occasion of every journey, and the unignorable notion that – in day-to-day use – the RS gives about as close to a supercar experience as you can get for the price.

It is all but completely unflappable in corners, irrespective of your forward momentum or the state of the road; and it can be had for scarcely more than, say, a run-of-the-mill, mid-sized SUV.

So the steering perhaps lacks that final tenth of tactility, the switchgear is starting to feel its age and the low-speed ride quality is pretty dire.

You also might raise an eyebrow at the sheer inutility of the rear seats, which are far more useful as a luggage shelf than as passenger accommodation, and would-be street racers in hot hatchbacks flock to the RS on the motorway like moths to a flame, but these concerns can swiftly be deemed trivial in light of its capacity to entertain, safely but scintillatingly, in all conditions.

A six-pot Toyota GR Supra would be comparably practical in everyday use but falls short on outright pace and poise, the Alpine A110 is the better driver’s car but markedly less rebellious and the Porsche 718 Cayman has all of them licked in just about every respect – but… well, it’s a bit obvious, isn’t it?