Air Filter Baffle

Is there an air filter baffle in a '98 1.8t Passat? I swapped the stock air cleaner filter for a K&N. While in the process I noticed a screen of some sort at the bottom of the air inlet tube. Is that a baffle? Is there any performance to be gained by removing it, or will it cause problems? I know this sounds like such a stupid question, but I am new to the VW world. I was going to remove (basically cut) the screen but I was reluctant to. I figured that the K&N's job is to prevent anything other than air from passing... Please advise. With only 150 horsepower, I'll take every little horsepower I can get.

You should have spent the extra dollar and got a ram air intake instead of a pannel filter... You will see twice the power gains with a ram air intake. The screne is called a "snow screne" it prevents large objects from getting into the air box ( aka leaves, little furry friends, ect..)

When you say ram air, is that synonymous with CAI? If it is different, where is the least expensive one available through? I did remove the pre-screen last night (noticed a small difference at higher rpms). I'll let the K&N do its job. I think my next mod will probably be the APR ecu. I wasn't planning on going crazy with mods because I bought this as my daily driver, but I need more power. My conception of speed is still somewhat altered because I am used to my Cobra which ran 12.80's. Unfortunately I had to sell it. The Passat is all I have to tinker with for now...

CAI is just a longer pipe off the intake. Still better than pannel filter. I would suggest a full exhaust before the apr chip.

Full exhaust is probably pretty pricey, huh? I figured I'd get the best bang for the buck with the chip. I do however, have a brand new Borla XR-1 muffler in my garage. I was thinking about at least doing a cat-back. My question is, how loud do the 1.8t's tend to get with a full exhaust? I kind of like the fact that it is quiet and not annoying, as opposed to all of the cars you see with the huge fart pipes on them. I wouldn't mind a little bit of noise, I am just trying to prevent it from being annoying...

Your exhaust wont be annoyingly loud unless you put on a fart can. A borla muffler with 2.5'' piping should not be too loud. The reason fart cans are soo loud because there straight through design. euro mufflers are actual mufflers with less baffling for more power and not alot more noise.