Stock is boring? I beg to differ.
The R is a 5-second 0-60 car right off the dealer lot, and the GTI is not that far behind, with a nice suspension setup (particularly with DCC) that's not extreme, but a great compromise for a car that mainly sees street use - which describes almost everyone's car here.
It's a hot hatch after all, not a dragster - it's not a Camaro, Mustang, Challenger, or other car that's built to go fast in a straight line. It's an all-arounder with excellent handling and more-than-decent power. Want a dragster? Get something with a big stonking V8.
I used to throw all kinds of money at mods on past GTIs, mainly because they really needed help. Suspensions were softer and sat higher than Euro models, sometimes we got less power (back when there wasn't much in the first place), crappy halogen headlights when HIDs were available in other markets, etc. But today's GTI/R are very close to the ROW versions, and performance-wise are fantastic IMHO.
By going the "I'm gonna turn it into a beast" mode, you wind up throwing all kinds of money at it that you'll never see back, void your warranty quite easily, and often aren't happy with the way the car turns out anyways, resulting in buying more stuff and trying to sell off the mods you regret - the for sale forums here are loaded with such stuff.
So mod the hell out of it if you want to, an owner is entitled to do as they please. But to dismiss the car as "boring" in stock form is just wrong IMHO. And staying stock has a ton of benefits.