nope, neither. i was thinking about that too, but the studder will also happen on a WOT pull. it will be pulling hard then just stop, and sounds like a super fast rev limiter

going lean.

afr and sparks plugs say no. and i have a 255 fuel pump

lol

It sure ain't pretty, but it's better than what I have currently (nothing). :bigtu:

thats cool

I was going to suggest the thermo! I had that happen on a couple cars - one I just forgot to plug in, and one was a bad connector on a TDI. The engines either won't start, or just run like total ass. OBDII/VagCom is a big help here, reading sensor values in real time gives you a GREAT idea of what to check out.

That said, a pressure test of the IC piping is easy and worth doing - you can have reasonably stable pressure as the wastegate will make all that up. And if you can find coil packs to borrow, that will help. Of course, misfires show up as lean - the unburnt fuel doesn't use up the oxygen, so the guage sees more oxygen that it would like and will read lean.

Here's a weird experiment: let air slip in, at idle, after the air meter. Do things get better? If not, then it's feedback from the O2 sensor screwing you up. Try unplugging it and see if it runs better.
-Abe.