I had one of these as a courtesy car and I have to say, they feel flabby and heavy in contrast to the Gti, despite running the same suspension.
I'm a diesel fan, having owned 2 remapped t.d's myself. But there's no getting away from the fact the tfsi petrol engine is so well suited to the golf, more so than the t.d's in my honest opinion.
I hear the Leon FR Tdi is a bit more of a drivers car and the BMW 120d is a whole load quicker still, albeit damn pricey, it's some 1.2 seconds quicker to 60mph and similar gains in the mid range between 30-80mph