Your signature links make a pretty good case. If I ever left the comfort zone of the air-cooled VW world, this is where I would go—somewhere between the GF3 and a three-axle Vanagon TDI inflatable motor home.
Someone (VW Vortex?) showed a New Beetle with a cast aluminum Audi TT front K-member. What generations of Golf/Jetta would that part fit in? What do you think of that new Bridgestone tire?
kach22i -- I think your cheat is a closer fit than the Classic Template—in cross-section and above the beltline. The template line just touches the rear deck, that might trap a pocket of turbulence without transmitting base pressure forward.