The smallest firework in Audi’s arsenal is a right cracker.

Price: $81,900.
Powertrain: 1984cc petrol, 221kW/400Nm, AWD, combined economy 7 l/100km, 0-100kmh 4.8s.

Vital statistics: 4210mm long, 1495mm high, 2594mm wheelbase, 19-inch alloy wheels.

BEING of a certain age, I have vivid memory of when quattro transformed international rallying and then Group B drove it wild.

The first ingredient: Four-wheel drive and turbocharging – today it sounds like a simple recipe, but when Audi launched quattro, it was radical and ground-breaking.

The second? Well, all that allowance for unchecked power was all too much, ultimately; as exciting as the cars were, they were just too feral.

Driving the Audi SQ2 triggered memory of those days. Not so much in respect to the performance, more in regard to the car’s size.

Three cars make up the Holy Trinity of Group B: The quattro, the Lancia Delta S4 … and the Peugeot 205 T16.

It’s the latter, winner of the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles in 1985 and 1986, I thought about. The secret to its ability to stand tall was metaphorical, not literal, when it dominated Rally New Zealand those years. It was a giant through being particularly petite. That played to huge advantage here. Being so compact it could be chucked at the craziest angles through the most challenging corners without risk of snagging the greenery.

Casting the SQ2 as a modern equivalent to a T16 in any particular detail is a stretch even Donald Trump wouldn’t attempt.

Sure, adoption of the 2.0-litre turbo petrol from the S3 hottish hatch lends indecent power (though not as nutsy as the Pug, which started with 250kW and ultimately packed 373kW), but really its edge comes from it being very ‘right-sized’ for back road play. It’s a small play that’s huge fun.

What’s adds to the impressiveness is that it’s a hot hatch that ‘not’. As in, the SQ2 is really a sports utility. Fortunately, the classification is simply for convenience and nothing more. What you’re getting is one of the most 'car-like' hot crossovers/SUVs around.

With a suspension that’s 20mm lower than standard, it puts hardly any more air between the ground and chassis than even an RS3. The quattro side of things is as emphatically attuned to fast road driving as the drivetrain and the ‘S-specific’ steering and big brakes likewise.

Agreed, from looking at it, you might wonder how it could be such a little monster. As much as the low-profile rubber and a performance bodykit, with a more pronounced front splitter, four exhaust pipes – as is the standard for an Audi S car – lift interest, it is still overly cutesy. Likewise, even with the usual sporty garnishes implanted, the emphasis on the interior treatment does seem to be a push more toward posh and premium than performance.

Noting that the front seats are race-ready types and can be set very low, in true sports car style, piques your interest. Hit the start button, give it a rev and … wow, that’s a rorty note, right?

The best imprint is with the driving; find a road with as many bends as straights, snick into the Sport modes and give it a fang … and, gosh, it’s so much livelier and involving than the standard Q2.

The fact that the SQ2 can blast off to 100kmh in 4.8 seconds is remarkable on paper and mind-boggling on the road, but all the more impressive is its torque and how it applies. There’s so much low-down pulling power. And yet it doesn’t mind being wrung out to the redline, too.

And, it handles superbly. Nothing close to WRC readiness, of course, but body control is tight enough that you feel confident enacting rapid direction changes. Grip is unflappable and you can feel the Haldex system metering the power among the wheels under heavy load. Sure, the ride quality is firm. It would probably benefit from taking the S3’s Magnetic Ride adaptive dampers. About the only area where it betrays its crossover DNA is on the brakes, but even on this score it betters average.

A passably practical – if, agreed, somewhat tightly confined - small SUV that also has an alter ego as a spirited, slightly high-set hot hatch? Many have tried, few truly achieve. The SQ2 is among the latter.