I personally would keep the 1.8t and either stroke it and/or build the head to rev. The added displacement will make a spooling far better and if you build the head, lag doesnt matter since you will have plenty of revs to fully use a large turbo. If you are not looking for more than 500-600whp, a 2.0-2.2l 1.8t will be a great choice.
BTW, i just moved on Mon and on the 730mile trip with me and my GF in the car and it packed to the gills, i still managed 33mpg on the trip down. I dont know the total weight, but it was enough to make the suspension make very bad noises
