Hi all.
Firstly apologies for the few new threads and long posts lately. Still in the learning phase of TDIs, DSGs and all the fancy European luxury the VW has to offer. Soon enough I'll be able to return the favour and contribute. I have more of an understanding to standard petrol and turbo 6cyl vehicles.

I have a 2006 Passat 2.0 TDI (yes an old car but coming from Holdens and Fords this is still a step up in luxury and features). As I've only driven the 1 car I don't have anything to compare to so this might be normal or might be something wrong.
I've had the car for around 5-6 weeks now and it's always had a major lag when taking off from a complete stop to the point it feels dangerous crossing intersections or roundabouts.

Next problem is when it reaches around 2500rpm +/- it sounds like it's bogged down. Almost like running on 3cyl but no where near as bad. Most noticeable in 3rd (can't comment much about 5th and 6th as I don't get the rpm high enough on those). 1st doesn't do it but has that lag. 2nd and 4th seem fine and smooth sounding but could just be that it's harder to hear. It still drives smooth with no jerking or anything but just doesn't sound right.
I'm still testing the theory but it seems that gears 1, 3 and 5 have less power than 2 and 4. Gear 2 has the most kick out of all. Strange comparison but as I'm going through the gears it feels the pulling power lacks through those gears then picks up in the others.
When at a steady speed it feels like a knocking type of feeling in the accelerator pedal and left foot resting plate. Hard to tell if it's feedback from something wrong or the tires (brand new tires put on when purchased) but being on different road surfaces (rough noisy road, smooth brand new road, etc) makes no difference.
Coming to a stop just as I'm basically stationary I feel a knocking/grinding feeling in the accelerator. Only happens for a split second. This I have no idea where it's coming from. Dsg? Wheel bearings or something?

First starts in the morning are hit and miss. Sometimes starts basically instantly and other times it takes around 5 seconds.

Lastly I bought an elm odb2 wifi dongle to check for any codes and also see how it ran (max kw, torque, boost, etc). I'm not sure how accurate these are but I've tried dashcommand and another 2 other highly reviewed apps and all 3 showed the following maximums:

Power (kW): 131
Power (hp): 176
Torque (N.m): 463
Boost: (psi): 22


I may very well be wrong but I was under the impression that stock is more like 103kw around 12psi and that much torque would have been the end of the dsg. So I'm thinking it's 1 of 3 things.
1. Odb2 and/or all apps are providing false information
2. Car has had something done by previous owner
3. This is all normal and I'm just proving how little I know about this car.

Other than the above (which with all that sounds terrible) the car has been running nicely and I'm getting around 1000-1100 per tank (a lot of freeway driving). By running nicely I mean no rough idling or bad engine vibrations or any of those obvious indications something is seriously wrong.

When I bought the car it had just had a basic service done (oil and oil filter, not sure on fuel filter, and air filter seems cleanish), as well as a dsg service.

I have spent weeks searching and trying to find the answers to these issues/questions with no luck. Each possibility I found had completely different symptoms with only a slight resemblance to mine.

Hopefully I have provided ample information to work with.

Thanks for any help and advice in advance

Andrew