Stage 2 kills torque below 2500 rpm with a 3" DP, not a lot of people seem to be acknowledging that, or maybe it's just the crazy top end power that has people failing to mention it/ notice it. My turbo spooled up much nicer at low rpms stage 1, stage 2 has noticeable lag at lower rpms. Stage 1 was better for normal street driving imo, stage 2 is a night and day difference above 3k and just pulls much harder when you floor it, and this is really what most people are looking for when they tune their car, but stage 2 does have it's draw backs, it's not all sunshine and rainbows like people are making it out to be. The mid and top end power is well worth it stage 2, but it is a bit of a sacrifice in normal acceleration compared to stage 1. A big reason I personally got my GTI was the excellent gas mileage, there were plenty of other faster cars I could of gotten. Most of the time I'm not flooring it, I like having the power there when I want it, but I almost feel like I should have stayed stage 1, there were no noticeable penalties on that tune, whereas stage 2 is a noticeable loss in the rpms where I do most of my driving.
Plus are you DSG or MT? I'm sure you know if you're MT that if you go stage 2, you will probably have to replace your clutch in the nearish future.