We've got a '99 new-body Jetta with the basic 4-banger, and I expect the same tranny you have in the Golf. It doesn't have the guts off the line that you might expect, and tends to be a bit stubborn about upshifts, especially 3-4 which won't come in until just about 40 mph--very annoying in 35-mile zones, when you're droning along in 3rd.
The box actually behaves very much like the old 1960's MB automatics, and I suspect the technology has a common element. The MB boxes were designed for very quick shifts ("quicker than the fastest hand") and high efficiency; smoothness was not a consideration. To do this, they eliminated the torque converter that most autoboxes used then and still do, and instead used a fluid coupling that gave a more direct connection from engine to car, not unlike the early Hydra-Matics of 1950's Oldsmobiles, but recalibrated for a relatively high-RPM, low-torque engine. The result is what you're noticing.
MB went to more typical torque-converter technology in the 70's and has, of course, advanced since.

__________________
Craig Bethune

'97 SL500, 40th anniversary edition

'04 Olds Bravada (SWMBO's)
'06 Lexus ES330
'89 560SL (sold)


SL--Anything else is just a Mercedes.
(Kudos to whoever said it first)