Before I start, some game plan rules. I don't care about noise and vibration unless I actually broke something. It's my daily driver but I want a car that can do what I ask it to do, I also want the car to be better than me so as I get better it's ready. I also plan on taking some lessons at a track even though I don't plan on tracking it regularly. I also will be using the GTI to learn how to work on cars, to perform the basic maintenance tasks and for the enjoyment of it, so I'll be doing mods and upgrading components sometimes just for the hell of it. I've set aside a 3 or 4 bills a month for a parts budget.
Plans so far: Suspension, I want to go through the suspension and get the handling right where I want it. So I'll start off with new shoes, I'm thinking about Pilot Sport AS3+ because I want a good all around tire that I don't have to switch out. If there is a better "jack of all trades" tire I'm open to looking at it. I'm not really interested in lowering it, so I'm going to get Bilsteins B6 and keep the stock springs. I'm open to using other springs but I want to keep any change >1 inch. I'm also planning on increasing the rear sway bar and swapping out the mounts. As far as what I've read, that should address what I currently experience on my favorite drives.
Next, I drive a lot of country roads and there are lots of random things in the road. You can't dodge all of them, case and point I have to get my wife's Prius serviced for this very reason. So I'll be upgrading parts under the GTI for durability. Metal oil pan, maybe a skid plate, or even that A3 aluminum subframe mod... I'm still researching this one. But this is why I want to keep the ride height as close as possible to stock.
Finally, once I have the handling where I want it, I have my driving skill where I want it, I'm going to go for horsepower. My goal is a MAX of 100hp over stock, but I think I'll be happy with whatever the conservative use of a JB4, an intake and down pipe will get me. I really want to be safe with the engine, but am open to expanding this as my knowledge of the engine grows.
I'm sure I'll think of more stuff to mention, all of this is subject to change as I learn, drive, and learn some more.