I loved my 1.8t in my old golf. Went through many stages of tune - standard 150bhp for about 30k, then a Revo map to about 190bhp. After that I went all out and had a K04-023 turbo from a TT/S3 fitted - 260+ bhp.
No issues at all, other than the waterpump failing, which is a common fault. Even through those states of tune, it never needed topping up with oil (unlike my ED30!).
The engine was better than the chassis though. Still, I enjoyed it on many trackdays and a trip across Europe.
Mine was an early 1.8t - the AGU engine code, which had the large port head and a throttle cable. Later cars had issues with coilpack failures, and issues with MAF's were quite common.