All Systems Avanti For New RS4

The Godfather Part II. Toy Story 3. People love a decent sequel. Mickey Rourke, Robert Downey Jnr. We also rave about comebacks. That's why the first piece of performance motoring news to really excite me in 2012 is: whether or not we'll finally see Audi roll out a successor to the revered B7 RS4. A car that created a renaissance for Quattro GmbH, the resolutely all wheel drive, very front engined small exec has garnered a huge following since its 2006 début.

The smart money suggests that there will indeed be a new model, but Ingolstadt will be taking a leaf from the legendary RS2's memoir and only offering an Avant (read: estate) bodystyle.

A declining market for fast saloons versus more practical performance SUVs, and stylish coupes, has seemingly put paid to the saloon shape, but Audi reckons there's space between the normal S4 Sportback and the RS5 to slot in a halo wagon. Likely packing the RS5's 444bhp V8, 7 speed twin clutch auto and Quattro AWD, the new RS4 could be a formidable all weather, all things to all men package.

If an RS4 does emerge, I for one will be most interested in the press reaction. After the universal praise heaped upon the last hot A4 and the R8, subsequent RennSport Audis have provoked starkly differing reactions. Some pundits have lauded the huge pace of the RS3, RS5 and RS6, and their weather-immune effectiveness against lairy AMGs and Ms. Conversely, they've been branded inert and blunt by other corners, emphasising earlier RS successes as a fluke, rather than the norm.

Having been a passenger in a well driven RS5, I can report that the sound and thrust of the 4.2 litre V8 being wound through 3 consecutive redline upshifts is a scintillating experience, yet the powerplant fireworks are undermined by the brittleness of the chassis, even in Comfort mode. Clambering out of the heavily bolstered seat, I was left with the impression Audi screw their interiors together so well not to impress with perceived quality, but rather to stop most of the trim shaking loose the first time the oversized grille is pointed down a moderately challenging A road.

After what's clearly been a long (and not especially subtle) development process, it'd be a shame to see Audi junk the RS4. With Mercedes teeing up a Black Series version of the already crackers C63 Estate, can Audi really allow the Three Pointed Star all the supercar-baiting wagon glory? As hotly anticipated sequels go, this can't afford to be another Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Or Quattro really will be At World's End.