I'm entirely too thrilled that I know exactly what you're talking about.
Good. Now buy a B5 S4 and feel my pain as well.
HAHA. I love how you, Zoom, and I are the only people who sit here and talk car stuff.
YAY for you, and be careful with the Alcantara. Love it, but it wears rough if you're hard on it. And your seats are nice. Are you racing it? Do you need the lightweight seats? I wouldn't waste the money unless it's a comfort thing or you're really racing. You've already got the excess weight stripped out. I think the only extra yours has is AC and a pass. seat, yes?
The stock leathers? They're cracked and they are terrible for hard cornering. Plus the heating element in the driver's side is broken, which is extremely inconvenient for my cold butt. I had Sparcos and harnesses that I sold with the intention of getting seats I actually liked. I've never had a problem with alcantara. I think it's awesome. The two Sparcos, two Corbeaus, brackets, and harnesses are $750, so why not? I want them and they're cheap, so I don't really consider it a waste of money. Less weight is less weight. My car doesn't have rear seats, the spare, rear wiper, wiper fluid reservoir, armrest, and there's no sound deadening under the carpet. It really isn't stripped. It looks full interior, and the cage pretty much offsets any weight reduction that was gained by removing everything. I lived without the AC, but I just can't do it again. I'm considering deleting power steering since the pump is dying anyway, but I'm not sure. VRs at least have the option of deleting just power steering without also deleting AC - 1.8Ts don't. Probably won't make a decision until the pump actually decides to die, lol.
Aaaand it doesn't have a wimpy 2.0T. It has a VR6.
Don't read a book by it's cover... or a Jetta by it's "cavalier" exterior.
Mk4s don't even come with a 2.0T. They came with the 1.8T, which is even worse.