gregozedobe

In theory the 7 speed DSG should be more economical than all but the most dedicated manual driver. I know when I'm driving my R gently the DSG (7 speed DQ381) is always very keen to get into as high a gear as possible as soon as possible, to the point where it sometimes feels like the engine is lugging a bit at too low a revs. I'm always a bit sceptical about the fuel economy reported by car's trip computers, as the manufacturer has a strong vested interest in giving drivers an optimistic reading. I know my T5 van always gives false readings (usually 10-15% better than actual). The best way to know how much fuel your car is actually consuming is the "fill to fill" method where you record the amount put in the tank and the distance covered. Do this over several fills and you will have an accurate figure. Note: Do not fill the filler pipe absolutely to the brim (ie to where the filler cap attaches) as this can damage the breather mechanism on some vehicles. I usually stop on the second click-off.

As Batch says, sourcing black roof rails isn't that difficult, but fitting is a total PITA. I actually bought a set from a wreckers intending to swap them for the silver rails on my R. Once I received them and figured out that I'd have to remove all the interior roof trim incl electrics to fit them I decided I didn't want black rails that badly, so I sold them on. I haven't heard from the buyer so I suspect he decided it was too hard also. It was a much easier job on my Octavia as they are fitted from the top.

AFAIK all modern diesel car engines are direct injection as it is the injection event (ie delivery of fuel into already compressed air in the combustion chamber) that triggers ignition. So none would have port injection. Some (mostly older, less efficient) diesel engines have injection into a pre-chamber, but ignition is still controlled by the injection event. Fun fact: some modern diesel engines may have multiple injection events in one combustion cycle IIRC this is to improve efficiency & power compared with a single injection event.

I'd be suspicious of the tyres. Is there any cupping or sawtoothing on the tread ? Feel for it by running your hand in both clockwise & anti-clockwise directions. Does it change on different surfaces ? (eg smooth hotmix vs coarse aggregate) Is there any gravel (or similar) caught in the tread ?

I used to be a Rain-X fan, but found that while it was excellent when freshly applied it didn't last very long so I had to keep re-applying it to prevent the dreaded smearing effect (most noticeable when cold). These days I use Aquapel, while it's not quite as good as fresh Rain-X, it lasts at least 2 - 3 times longer before needing a re-application. Of course your weather conditions and driving requirements may be different to mine (it is pretty dry where I live, so not very frequent rain).

You may have blown a cornering light bulb. It's a relatively simple fix. Have a look at this thread: BTW Welcome to the forum

Me three 👍

If it has an immobiliser chip then not many locksmiths can get them working as the chips are hard to source, plus the car needs coding to accept the new key (and you need to have all keys present at the time). A VW dealer will probably charge heaps for a new one. You may be able to get another fob housing and transplant all the guts to the new housing to fix the original fob (make sure you get the immo chip, some of them are small like a grain of rice, and being in a glass capsule they are easily damaged).

I'm of a similar mindset. I found the axle tramp and wheelspin on my (stage 1) vRS was annoying, particularly on wet roads, and the AWD of the R was so much better. I can't see me ever going back to FWD (or RWD for that matter). But it turns out my missus prefers to drive the vRS (she doesn't find the wheelspin an issue at all) so we've ended up with two similar sized wagons. Once rolling an dry roads there isn't a huge difference in acceleration between the two.

AFAIK there is no way to do it via normal menu settings, but I think I've read somewhere that it can be switched off with coding software eg VCDS, OBDII etc

No, wasn't a problem on my R, but was mentioned on one of the Golf R forums I frequent. I mentioned it in case it was relevant for your wind noise issue. Just because the dealer said it wasn't at fault doesn't mean it wasn't. Not all dealers are as competent (and honest) as they could be when customers bring their cars in for warranty fixes. The classics are: "It's a characteristic of that model, they all do it" when they don't. "We couldn't replicate the issue" "VW head office are investigating this issue" "Computer says no"

Today I had the null reading for Oil temp problem in my Performance monitor, I had to switch the car off and on to get it to show (changing the infotainment display didn't fix it). I haven't noticed it before, and I'm usually watching the oil temp so I know when it is OK to have some fun. I'll watch it a bit more closely from now on.

Didn't someone notice that the rubber seal at the trailing edge ( top) of the front door was slightly higher than the corresponding seal on the rear door ? IIRC they lowered the door so it was flush and that fixed the noise issue.

Make sure they clean the haldex filter as well as change the haldex fluid (it's not part of VW scheduled servicing, but it should be).

Definitely. Old tyres go hard and lose their grip. Most tyre manufacturers recommend removing tyres that are more than 5 years old. I don't know whether some of the new compounds are more or less susceptible to losing grip with age. I think I've read that some track-only tyres lose significant grip afte a set number of heat cycles (1 heat cycle is warm up, cool down). Personally I tend to replace tyres after 3-4 years of use, so I mostly replace tyres that have plenty of tread left. The PS4 tyres on my vRS seem to have noticeably less grip on wet roads at 4 years old than they did when new, and they still have lots of tread.