The difference between 0 to +4KW isn't even a tooth out from memory, but to be sure, count how many teeth are on the cam sprockets vs the crank and that will give you degrees per tooth. From my own calcs years ago, 4KW (or degrees) isn't even half a tooth. I think I arrived at + or - 12KW if it was a tooth out, but don't quote me.
All of this assumes the base timing was set correctly on the last cam belt change, but again, if the cambelt was a tooth off, you'd know about it. And the cambelt is something a 5 year old could do, so no excuses for that.
You are spot on about people relying on the cam lock tool. Big no no. You actually need to tweak the inlet cam anti-clockwise a tiny bit (with the lock tool in place) to get the correct chain tension across the two cams, and there's even a special VW tool for that. Again, it's not by a massive amount and the VVT will automatically compensate for any slight timing drift, but you still need to set the static timing as near as dammit upon initial assembly.
Of more concern is the smoke. Is it blue/white oil smoke? Does it smoke pulling away after a period of idling in traffic? Is it worse when hot? Could be valve guides or turbo. How many miles on it? Is the PCV system up to snuff? No aftermarket deletes or anything?
The requested vs actual timing is always 0.5 off at idle. Don't worry about that. More importantly is the specified and actual mirror each other rapidly under load. If you log the VVT channels, you should find it goes from 27KW down to nothing very quickly under hard load, and varies between 0 and 27 when driving. So long as they match, you can outrule the timing and VVT operation.
If they don't, you normally get fault codes. "Cam timing - set point not reached - over advanced/retarded", or "cam timing slow response".
And props to the Humble one. Top, top fella and I watch all of his videos, and also his buddy Paul 'ShopDap's vids
