Golf R32 never quite managed to slay its rivals in the hooligan hot hatch stakes: Subaru WRX STI, Ford Focus RS and Mitsubishi Evo. But the Germans are hoping their replacement will do the trick.

Called the 'R-Series Turbo' by the team at Wolfsburg, it's now believed the car will be called R20 or R20T, according to AutoExpress, to reflect the ditching of the 3.2-litre V6 engine that's powered the last two R32s.

In its place is the four-cylinder 2.0-litre turbocharged engine from the GTI, featuring a bigger turbo and additional tweaks. This should give it about 200kW of power, which is over 15kW more than the replaced V6, while boosting fuel economy and reducing emissions.

And with less weight to carry around, R20T should have more or less the same mass as GTI. This is good enough to slice off 1.5 seconds from the existing R32's 0-100km/h time for a figure of about 5.0 seconds ? bringing it to within tenths of BMW's M3.

Top speed is limited to 250km/h, with Auto Express speculating that power, as in R32, will be delivered to all four wheels.

The choice of a six-speed manual or DSG dual-clutch gearbox is expected.

Visually, wheelarches are flared, tyres wider and suspension lowered but the most obvious exterior enhancement is the deep front spoiler featuring integrated LED headlights, not unlike that of the Concept BlueSport seen in Detroit last month.

AutoExpress believe the Golf R20T will debut in May at the 24-hour Nurburgring race.