For what it's worth, my GTI is standard power, and I've found the stock brakes do fade quite quickly, even though they're fine around town, during normal driving.
I was in Wales over the weekend and there's a stretch of road that goes through the mountains (between Aberystwyth, Newtown, Welshpool etc) that is a PURE driver's road. Straights, sweeping bends, tight bends, vision 2 or 3 apexes ahead, stunning scenery. It's there to be driven.
Unfortunately I managed to cook the brakes halfway through and had to dial it right back for the remainder of the dream road.
So, even with standard power, for me at least, the standard brakes stand out as the GTI's biggest weak point.
Obviously a bigger setup would handle the heat better, but from reading up it sounds like the R32 setup is rather heavy. Which makes me think upgrading to a proper BBK might be the best investment.
In short, whether you're stock or Stage 3, upgrading the brakes will never be a bad idea.
