On Sepang International Circuit, the laws of the land and the code of the civil driving are all forgotten. Basically, all the rules of the road are broken in an illicit pursuit of adrenalin. If you were involved in an actual race on Sepang, it wouldn't be about the prize, be it money or trophy. It would be about pride. As such, the only two things that matter are speed and precision.

For that, the latest wagon from Ingolstadt doesn't fail. Despite its genre as a family carrier, it's aggressively fast and obnoxiously loud, which makes it a suitable car to place on the track.

The Audi RS4 Avant went missing in action for a while since 2005 when it sported a potent 4.2-litre V8 powerplant that was also used in the R8. Now, it's back with the same displacement capacity, but with a higher output of 450 horses (30bhp more than before) at well above 8,000rpm - all done without running out of breath.

And that's exactly how it feels on the track. At the very top of its rev range, the RS4 Avant has just about the edge over anything else you care to mention, either for rapidity of response or pure straight-line acceleration. Even when it comes to the low and mid range, the generous helping of 430Nm of torque at your disposal helps to create a sizeable chunk of urgency, regardless of whatever gear you are in, where it really counts on the Malaysian highway.

Even if we were to ignore the figures for a moment (which is pretty damn hard if you ask me) and focus on the subjective qualities of the Audi car's performance and behaviour on the track, a similarly remarkable result will emerge.

Firstly, the exhaust note is more than just a mere bark and can be tuned via Audi's Drive Select system to produce a more intimidating yet thrilling noise, with blow-offs that will easily energise the driver with each downshifts.

Secondly, the smart sport differential in the rear gives you the necessary assurance and confidence to chuck the 1.8 tonne power wagon into corners (although you will still experience understeer if you go head on to the corners at ridiculously high speeds - as we experienced). Even if you switch the traction control to sport and toggle the driving mode to Dynamic, the car's handling balance is fundamentally excellent, with a wagging tail to keep the keen driver entertained.

As to whether you like the styling of the Audi RS4 Avant, it's entirely subjective to the individual. What we can say, though, is that the seductive stationwagon looks more charming than it does in photos. It turns more heads than you can possibly expect, too. Possibly because it looks more exotic than any other modified cars on the Sepang racetrack.

This is definitely not your conventional wagon territory.