Ordinarily, driving 651bhp’s worth of hot hatchery on a frozen lake would carry the significant risk of being buttered up a pine tree. But there’s something reassuring about these two. Something evolved: four-wheel drive.

Which is precisely why I’m on 40 precious centimetres of ice above Lake Kvarntjärnen. Why I’ve put on two stone in clothing. Why every creak and crack makes me want to give birth to a banister of super-condensed fear: we’re discovering if that all-wheel-drive reassurance is backed up by actual, tangible benefits. And we’re doing so on the slipperiest circuit known to lunacy.

Words: Matt Jones

Photos: Justin Leighton and Lee Brimble

This feature first appeared in the March 2012 issue of Top Gear magazine