It’s been a while since we’ve seen the upcoming Audi RS3, but the hot hatch has finally resurfaced at Germany’s famous Nürburgring. Promising to be one of the most potent hatches on the planet, the Audi RS3 is believed to be packing the same 340 horsepower engine found in the TT RS.

While this test car is still wearing an S3 body, the air intakes on either side of the grille appear to be modified and slightly larger. The brake rotors also appear to be larger and cross-drilled.

Power will come from Audi’s 2.5-liter five-cylinder turbocharged engine, with 340 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque — the very same mill found under the hood of the Audi TT-RS. Considering that the proposed RS3 would probably weigh about as much as the TT-RS, a 0-60 time in under 5 seconds sounds reasonable, as does a top speed in excess of 150 mph.

The new A3 is scheduled to appear in October, but the hotter RS3 model won’t likely bow until 2012. No word if Audi is eying a U.S. launch for the RS3, but the prospect does seem likely.