How far did you take the GTI power wise? If you were accustomed to driving around the traction issues of a fettled GTI then an ed30 is a logical step. If you found yourself begging for easy traction maybe the mk6 R is a better bet.
For me an ed30 is a much more special car than a mk6 R, in all but sheer straight line grip in all gears.
A few people I've spoken to that switched to the mk6 R said it felt pretty slow in comparison until it was up at Stage 2 and beyond. They're probably not slow per se, but quite surefooted so don't have that lairy side a quick GTI or ed30 does.
If you're chasing big power (TTE420 etc) then AWD starts to make more and more sense. If you're sticking with the standard turbo a 2+ ed30 will probably be lots more fun.