Good writeup Clarky, sounds like you love your new baby. One question though - how come you only had your previous GTI for such a short time?
BTW...
My colleagues here had Mk7 PP's and their BS traction issues were exactly the same as my Mk7 GTD.
I thought I remembered a technical writeup on here where someone proved that the E-diff made no difference to standing start wheel hop...
Their situation and mine was improved dramatically by replacing the OEM BS's with something else. However, it only really went away when one of them swapped to a Mk7 R... that definitely fixed it.
Its one of those things which sort of spoils the GTI - you have the power, you have the handling, but it really can't get the power down - even my modest GTD can spin up under somewhat less than balls out road racing driving - not even from standing I might add! You do kinda get used to it though, but its the one thing VW haven't managed to fix. Wonder if similar Audis or Skodas have the same issues?