Not to be a dick but if you can lose to a LS there is no way you can pull on a 1.8T. Face it, it doesnt take a brain surgeon to drive a tiptronic....but hell I could be wrong, you said that you got some good stuff fixed on your car (spark plugs, etc) you may, but I doubt it.
But hey what the hell do I know, go get 'em....for the TOFU CREW!!