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  Performance is expected to peak with a 0-100km/h sprint time in the low five-second range Photo Gallery

The newest chapter in the Golf GTi story has not even begun in Australia and the car has already been trumped.

The GTi will be here soon but even sooner, last week, a hotter hatch was caught in Europe by the Carparazzi scoop crew. It's the latest member of Volkswagen's stove-hot R-car family, the R20. The R20 takes over from the outgoing Golf R32, which packs a 186-kiloWatt V6 engine and a $56,990 pricetag in Australia.

The best news is that it cranks out 201 kiloWatts, according to European sources, even without a V6. Instead, the R20 has a 2-litre turbocharged four with direct fuel injection, a significant step up from the similar turbomotor used in the Golf GTi.

Performance is expected to peak with a 0-100km/h sprint time in the low five-second range and the car will be limited to 250km/h at the top end. Styling of the R20 is as conservative as any of the members of the Golf VI family, although the Carparazzi pictures show a more aggressive treatment at both front and rear ends. It also gets a giant centre-mounted exhaust pipe.

The development car points to a three-door start to the go-fast Golf program, although there is also likely to be a five-door hatch further into the future. The R20 is currently being tweaked at the Nurburgring ahead of European sales later this year. With the GTi expected in Australia at much the same time, the R20 is likely to be a second-half arrival here in 2010.