VR6Luver

Here's the deal. My friend just bought a 98 Passat 1.8T which generates 150hp. I am looking to buy the 97 Passat VR6 (172hp) and I want to know - one, will I be able to smoke that 98? And if not - what do I need to do in order to smoke it? The 98 is totally stock with a tiptronic tranny. So, first off - I'll stick with the manual in mine - which already should give me a pretty good edge considering I'll have 22hp on it plus a manual transmission. So, anyone have any thoughts?