And the moral of the thread is......don't buy an R if you care about mpg......get a GTI. 
The real moral is learn when to & when not to 
If you want to try and go full throttle everywhere, you pay, regardless. If you learn when to and when not to, you pay less!
I used to have the renowned Ollie Reid that is the Focus ST. It occasionally saw nearly 30 (ish) on a good day & almost worried 40 on a very boring run. The GTI PP I now have does 35 and a bit DTD. Shame about the sound though 
Still, the point is, learn how to drive, at least a bit & ye shall be rewarded!
When people read about average low mpg, the assumption is often made that the driver is going everywhere at full throttle. Another, perhaps more accurate interpretation, is that a low average mpg can be the result of lots of mpg slaying congested town/city driving - it's impossible to full throttle it everywhere when it takes you 50 mins to go 2 miles, lol (Dynaudio helps to while away the time), so at those times it's very light throttle, engine braking and keeping steady distance. Out on the open road, that's where you get your kicks. But whether sat in a line of slow moving traffic, making steady progress on motorway or haring round twistes, the R is a great car to do it all in.
While not quite 50 mins to do a couple of miles, I also spend a lot of time staring at the scenery & not enough time seeing it go past a little more quickly 
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However, when and when not to, and how, still makes a fair difference - mpg, lifespan of consumables like tyres, brakes and the like. Do it right and it can be a lot of a difference . Never had to replace a clutch, brakes last an age and so on, but never slow 
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Having said all that, I wish I had Dynaudio & I'm sure the R is great place to spend time, just not for me - too much threat of someone else wanting it and would want the sound of more than a 4.
No point in asking what mpg you get in your R then, lol. What car are you driving?
I try to drive according to the road, the traffic and other deciding factors (weather conditions etc), unfortunately not much scenery to be seen sitting in a queue of city traffic, plenty of questionable modern architecture though. The only consumables I've got through in the 3-4 year lifespans of performance Golfs I've owned, have been tyres. Conti 5P's are not the most hard wearing tyre, they yield about 13k on fronts (same as I got out of 2 sets on mk6 GTI), mine on the R are just coming up for replacement and am looking at Michelin PS4S as replacement for all 4, will be interesting to see how they compare.
The threat of theft doesn't alter my choice of car, it is a valid concern for many, especially depending on where you live. Money is hard earned and I will not not let the criminal actions of a few scroats determine what car I should spend it on. Sensible pecautions are taken, GAP insurance, house security etc, but if it gets nicked, it gets nicked. And if it doesn't then I'll carry out enjoying it even when not moving :-D
