Been a VW fanboi since high school when I got a MK5 Jetta. MK5 Jetta 2.5L 6AT > MK6 Jetta 2.5L 6AT > MK6 GTI 6MT > MK7 GTI 6MT > MK7 GTI 6DSG > 7.5 Alltrack 6MT.
sister wrecked my first jetta right after I got it. the replacement mk6 jetta was sorely disappointing so traded for mk6 gti. dumped my mk6 because it was a lemon, and it was right when the mk7 was released so lease deals were real good. when the lease on that was up i bought a used dsg gti because i didnt want to deal with aftermarket clutches etc, and had been driving manual for 6 years at that point. hated it on my drive home from the dealer, regretted forgoing the 3rd pedal immediately. I enjoy driving other people's DSG cars very much... I don't enjoy owning one. not yet. I'm 27 so I got in at the tail end of the manual transmission (and its looking like the internal combustion engine, as well).
got a 6MT Alltrack last year with lockdown financing special. the Alltrack is my favorite car I've owned yet, and after having owned 6 VWs in 10 years, I plan to keep this one for the next 10. It is the last affordable AWD manual turbo wagon in America. Instead of trading up to another car, as it ages i'll just keep investing in it.
it has the same bones as the golf r sans the 2.0L engine, and with the same upgrades many R owners do (B6/8 struts, rsb, tune, tires) it will be on-par or better than a stock R. The only major thing you have to do with the Alltrack that R owners don't have to do is upgrade the turbo. IC, DP, suspension, wavetrack etc are all equally necessary on both cars. Difference is the Alltrack is 60% the base price of the R, so you can do all the above upgrades and come out on top of a stock golf r for less.