I can second this about the grille. I'm running normally aspirated, with a BMC intake. Thought I'd remove the grille to increase airflow a bit but can't say I noticed any difference in performance. What I did notice was that after I'd driven in a 'spirited' fashion, there would be a MAF (Short to B+) error stored sometimes. I didn't put 2 and 2 together for a while (was a long time between removing it and VAGCom'ing it), but when I eventually put the grille back on, no further problems. I suspect the problem would be even worse on FI applications. Strangely, I never saw this on the OBD1 cars I