I want to start by saying I love the mod and appreciate the work done on it. I play for several hours, every day.
With that said, I agree with some of the earlier comments. I have started a game on warlord (easy) with Austria (free apothecary) several times. I immediately get a scout, worker, settler, then start stonehenge. Rush to feudalism, get the free settler in social policies and have 3 cites pretty fast. Meaning, 3 free apothecaries gaining science. After this point, I try to maintain expansion while trying to grab a wonder when I can. Eventually, some area suffers, as you can only build one item per city at a time. I have games, where I'm leading the board in science, and researching with a goal (not just scattershot), and the AI has the wonder built before I even get the tech.
Early wonders don't come cheap (turn-wise). And I'm not saying they should. However, it is quite mathematically impossible for the AI to spend 30+ turns building a wonder, AND have the massive troops that it has, AND build the buildings required to support those troops with happiness and gold. Oh yeah, AND somehow finding time build settlers/workers to keep pushing out more cities.
The way the AI jams the cities so close to each other, they have to be sharing work tiles. By sharing work tiles, this should limit their pop limit, hammers, food, gold on a per city level. A less efficient city should not be able to pop a wonder 5-8 turns after getting the tech for it. It should take longer, as they don't have as many tiles to work. For example. The AI city working 11 tiles because it is jammed so close to other cities, should easily be beat to a wonder by a city working 18 tiles, given equivalent terrain. In the case of the AI expanding so fast, keeping city size smaller and cramming them close together, the AI would have to be way ahead in science so it could start the wonder, well in advance, of a Civ building large cities.