31 Weeks lead time for an R

[Mr Savage]

I think your winter mpg at 41 is excellent. You are spoilt! Wait until you get the R. Probably 21 mpg or even less!

It's the worst mpg in a long line of TDIs (for the one that's supposed to be the most economical) and there's potential to get a lot colder yet. A toasty 10C yesterday saw a sensibly driven 70 mile round trip get 43mpg. 

I used to be able to hammer my Scirocco 170TDI and get 46mpg on even an 8 mile journey. Progress eh?

Will the R be 1/2 as affected by the cold as a TDI is? It's so long since i've owned a petrol to have kept an eye on the mpg, and as we know, a combination of winter diesel and really needing a warm engine to work at their best does put the TDI at a disadvantage when the mercury drops. I can't remember winters having a massive effect on my old Peugeot 205 GTI's thirst.

It will be mate yes. All engines are much more efficient when warm and obviously the colder the weather the longer they take to warm up. I've seen my MPG drop from 36 each day to work down to 32 since the temperatures dropped drastically.

My brothers R averages around 24MPG. It's a pretty thirsty car.

[monkeyhanger]

Mr Savage:

With the obvious oil being more viscous when cold (not massively more with newer fully synthetic oils), drier air (that summer humidity helps a lot on the bang expansion) and extra use of lights, heating etc in the winter being a common winter mpg killer to both cars, I knew there'd be an effect. I was under the impression though that the difference between summer and winter mpg was noticeably greater with a diesel than a petrol (maybe 20% diesel vs 10% dip with the petrol), primarily due to the volatility of the petrol meaning it ignites well at all temperature ranges.

My GTD is certainly looking about 20% thirstier on like-for-like journeys right now vs what it was doing in the summer. It seems far more temperature sensitive than any of my previous TDIs - an actual 44mpg around the doors is about the worse I ever saw in my Scirocco at slightly sub-zero temps. I'm seeing about 41mpg now at +5C, so there's always a chance it could get worse.

I wouldn't sweat a 4-5mpg dip in the R. I suppose a 4mpg dip in your GTI is noticeable but not huge, unlike me being down 7mpg on a short journey and 10mpg on a longer one. You've suffered an 11% drop at the same time i've suffered an 18% drop, that's kind of what I was expecting, for the petrol to be less affected (but still affected) by the winter.

[Mr Savage]

MH;

Yes 10% petrol and 20% diesel sounds about right.

To be honest with you ive not particularly noticed the drop but that's mostly because petrol prices are crashing down right now.

My previous car, a GT TDI 140 averaged around 45mpg all year round.

[C3PO]

Build week 4 just been confirmed for my order, so that's looking like a March 1st collection

[am1w]

Damn and Blast! My BW has slipped from BW6 to BW7. According to VWCS there are a huge number of orders for the R both from the UK and from the Continent, more than they expected.

[monkeyhanger]

Damn and Blast! My BW has slipped from BW6 to BW7. According to VWCS there are a huge number of orders for the R both from the UK and from the Continent, more than they expected.

There are a lot of leasers due their cars getting built very early in the new year from the Aug/Sept deals that were going around. Maybe they're getting priority over the retail ones? Be thankful you're not at BW15, looking like a May pick-up for me. Might be my own fault for adding to my order. A 1 week slip isn't a disaster right now.

[am1w]

Damn and Blast! My BW has slipped from BW6 to BW7. According to VWCS there are a huge number of orders for the R both from the UK and from the Continent, more than they expected.

There are a lot of leasers due their cars getting built very early in the new year from the Aug/Sept deals that were going around. Maybe they're getting priority over the retail ones? Be thankful you're not at BW15, looking like a May pick-up for me. Might be my own fault for adding to my order. A 1 week slip isn't a disaster right now.

I know, I know. But my BMW is already pre-sold and the guy is getting very impatient.
I started on BW2, then it was BW6 and now it is BW7.
Our replacement BMW for the other one took just 7 weeks from order date to delivery today.

[monkeyhanger]

BMW do seem to rattle a car out quickly, even a 135i - more efficient or a less full order book?

It's just like waiting for my GTD all over again. BW24>BW28>BW33, actually built in BW35 in 2013. Best to be a few weeks after Christmas, to get that Gluhwein and Hefe Weizen out of their system for building yours. You could ask if a free loaner is forthcoming, but it's not officially late until it's 2 weeks past confirmed build week.

[Mr Savage]

VW didn't help themselves by making the R so cheap to buy. I know a lad going out a 1.2 Corsa into a Golf R, quite an upgrade!

It's no surprise that they are struggling with keeping up on the production line with mass demand.

[am1w]

I think part of the problem for the inordinate delays can be attributed to problems with the MQB platform with too many Golf variations being spun off from it, problems with the Robots at Wolfsburg, some software glitches and Unions being up in arms. Hopefully things will calm down a bit in the New Year and the cars that will emerge will be of better quality and be produced more efficiently. Well let us hope that the VW Wolfsburg juggernaut will regain some sort of equilibrium.