Got my R!

[risingblue1]

I picked up my Rising Blue R on Saturday trading in my Rising Blue GT. Haven’t driven it a lot but it was filthy by lunchtime due to the summer weather! A few boring bits first. The build quality feels much better than my GT which was a launch car from September 08. No rattles, no smears from the wipers etc etc. Still strangely the steering wheel is fractionally off centre something which my GT had from new. Another couple of niggles are a number of scrape marks on the left exhaust and the ‘R’ logo on the left brake calliper has bled a little i.e. the black has gone on to the grey parts of the R logo.

I haven’t taken it about 3500 rpm hence getting a combined mpg of 35.5mpg! The gear change indicator is a bit weird it tries and encourages me to put in 4th at 15 and 5th at 25 which I thought would strain the engine. The general exhaust note and the induction once you hit around 2.5k-3k rpm sounds wonderful. The brakes feel a lot sharper than the GT. The engine feels very tight more so than any other car I have bought from new but I know it will loosen with miles.

Other things I like are the detailing changes around the ‘R’ although it seems to be lost on most people who think I haven’t changed my car. I also like the xenons which seem to work well much better than those I had in my two Cooper S’. I also like the fact it only added £20 to my insurance for the next 6 months J

I also love the cloth fabric even though it doesn’t give that nice leather smell which never really left my old car in 18 months.

Any question’s let me know.

[Chungster]

congrats mate

Wait till uve done a few miles then enjoy the upper reaches of the rev range. Was on a "limiter" testing sesh yesterday. Reached 6800rpm and limiter nowhere in sight! Gonna buzz it to 7k rpm next to see if it's there lol

[Anakin]

Congrats

[risingblue1]

Got 39.3 mpg on way home on the motorway!

[risingblue1]

Got 39.3 mpg on way home on the motorway!

[croydonvw]

Congrats mate, thats somegoing on the mpg...i'm averaging 28-30 around town which is pretty impressive and should only get better with time

[risingblue1]

yeh quite impressed as it was still at between 55-75 due to traffic. Just put Tesco 99 in. It runs smoother than the super from Texaco in the first tank from what I can tell and massively smoother than the GT I ran on 95.

[Old Boy]

Congratulations and enjoy. Mine went in yesterday for an off centre steering wheel. Surprise surprise they could not find anything wrong. It seems "they are all like that". Surely it is only a matter of moving the wheel on the spline but that all seems alien to my dealer. They have offered 2 services for £250 including oil, filter and pollen filter which is all it will need. Negotiating 3rd service price. My dealer in Reading has in show room for sale Rising blue,leather, 19's, DSG. Never had a GT but have a MK5 GTI. The R feels special every time I drive it.

[risingblue1]

Congratulations and enjoy. Mine went in yesterday for an off centre steering wheel. Surprise surprise they could not find anything wrong. It seems "they are all like that". Surely it is only a matter of moving the wheel on the spline but that all seems alien to my dealer. They have offered 2 services for £250 including oil, filter and pollen filter which is all it will need. Negotiating 3rd service price. My dealer in Reading has in show room for sale Rising blue,leather, 19's, DSG. Never had a GT but have a MK5 GTI. The R feels special every time I drive it.

Its weird that they cant correct the steering wheel. After two attempts they fixed it on the spline on the GT. Its also very strange they are off centred to start with!

[spamdog]

Mines been back in for scratch under bumper from transporter, sticky stuff left on the back windows, brakes squealing, wipers adjusted and new blades (after a fight with them).
Going back in this week for a full valet but very happy now the teething problems have been fixed.

[Nick Roc]

I also picked up my ROC R today, and what can i say apart from it is simply a awesome piece of engineering with stunning looks. I am so happy words cannot explain!!

[blakest]

Congrats Nick,i know it'll be worth the wait for mine, not heard a bad word against it all very positive.

[croydonvw]

Congratulations and enjoy. Mine went in yesterday for an off centre steering wheel. Surprise surprise they could not find anything wrong. It seems "they are all like that". Surely it is only a matter of moving the wheel on the spline but that all seems alien to my dealer. They have offered 2 services for £250 including oil, filter and pollen filter which is all it will need. Negotiating 3rd service price. My dealer in Reading has in show room for sale Rising blue,leather, 19's, DSG. Never had a GT but have a MK5 GTI. The R feels special every time I drive it.

VW have an offer on servicing at the moment, first 3 services for £250 but you have to change to time/distance as oppsoed to longlife...you can sign up within 90 days of registering the car, well worth it in my opinion, and all dealers should offer it!

My steering wheel is bob on straight, so your dealer's talking twaddle, tell them to adjust it from the track rods if they have to!!

[Old Boy]

Thanks for the advice. I saw that service offer on another thread so I will go back to my dealer. I am going to take the service dept man out in the car to show him the obvious and perhaps then they will straighten the wheel either by taking the wheel off or adjusting track rod ends. A bit picky but an off centre wheel is annoying. Superb car though.

[risingblue1]

I have just noticed that if you have the steering column at its lowest point the steering wheel is off centred too the right and if you have it at its highest points its off centre to the left! Are all Sciroccos like this as I had this on mine first one but was corrected.

[Ibanez33]

I have just noticed that if you have the steering column at its lowest point the steering wheel is off centred too the right and if you have it at its highest points its off centre to the left! Are all Sciroccos like this as I had this on mine first one but was corrected.

Eh? how does that work?

[ayc1985]

Photoooooooooooooooooooos!

[risingblue1]

Now I have had the car 10 days and 420 miles covered I thought I would provide some impressions:

• The car is vastly different to the GT. It was very tight when I got the R but it is loosening up nicely and revs very cleanly. It is massively quicker than my GT IMO even under 3k revs.
• Everyone who has seen it thinks it’s the same as my GT (both were RB) but with another exhaust. I defy anyone to say that after getting in the car! I even managed to get my wife to say it is ‘quite fast’ last night.
• I’ve also had a lot of people say why do you need a car like that you can only do 70 on UK roads. And to be honest I don’t often go above 80 but its how you get there and the in the gear acceleration that are also outstanding on this car.
• Equally it can be driven sedately and you are rewarded by a smooth engine and a car that pulls well in 6th gear on the motorway.
• My average MPG must be around 33-35 despite having some fun (under 4k revs).
• The brakes are stronger but seem to require more pressure than the GT.
• The engine sounds good without being intrusive.
• The cloth seats lack lumber support and within 45 minutes both my wife and I get bad back ache. Although the look and feel of the seats is nice.
• Not sure the piano black interior isn’t a bit bland and I not sure I would have the dashboard strip in silver out of choice.
• The new MF steering wheel is much quicker to respond and allows you to change a track etc without being in audio mode.
• Why isn’t there a mute button on the steering wheel like the old one?
• And why is the digital speed readout in KM/H? It says you can change it to MPH but I can’t find it?
• The wipers are much better than the GT as is the build quality and lack of rattles.
• The Sat Nav has been improved further from the GT and looks great.
• The bi xenons are great for illumination and I quite like the LED’s.
• It looks absolutely wonderful after a coat of wax.
• Will be happier when I get the couple of niggles fixed.

[jonallen628]

What are the niggles?

[Crossbone]

You can switch from KPH to MPH in the setup menu. You just have to play some more or read the instructions that came with the car.
And there is a button on the steering wheel to mute the radio. On the left side, the bottom button, I think it's the one with a telephone drawing on it.