MOST drivers do not need the go-anywhere potential that SUVs offer with their four-wheel drive and jacked-up ground clearance, and neither do most car-buyers need a sportscar that can corner with physics-defying speed and crack 100km/h in less than 5.0 seconds.

So what if you combine the two similarly unnecessary extremes of the spectrum and hyperbolic personalities in one vehicle? Is the resulting Frankencar twice as ridiculous or does the absurdity somehow make more sense?

Audi tested the theory in 2013 when it introduced an RS version of its Q3 that borrowed the monstrous engine from the TT RS and could lap a circuit as fast as some serious sportscar metal, but as part of a mild update, the car-maker has given the insane RS Q3 even more grunt.

With 270kW/465Nm and the pace to hit 100km/h from zero in just 4.4 seconds, does the Audi RS Q3 Performance take unnecessary to a new level, or is it the best manic double act since Gene Wilder met Richard Pryor?

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