Any ideas on this? A friend suggested some places I could get the engine chipped to get some extra HP but I doubt if it's worth it or might just develop issues. Any ideas?

Try racechip.de a plug in solution to getting more power. I have looked at there website and some of the figures are quite impressive, I have the same engine as you and I am considering getting the chip ,it will then be in VRS territory performance wise (although it is not slow in standard form) hope this helps you out.