Has anyone seen any Stingers in the wild?

[jaccfrost]

If all goes as planned - next weekend. There are several 2018 GT2s left in my area that are equipped how I want, and the current incentives I -think- are about as good as they're going to get. Of course, a lot can happen in a week, and if they're gone, they're gone.

-Tim

JUST DO IT!

 

[NickUK]

I've seen a local dealer's 3.3 Red test driver near where i live. The demo cars get taken home by the salesmen each night, presumably so they can experience the car (to be able to better sell it) and also possibly to prevent theft, which makes sense.

Anyway, so i saw it to my left as i was entering a roundabout and had to make a quick correction to where i was headed to avoid hitting the kerb of the middle of the roundabout lol. We then were side by side in traffic and i gave a wave, but don't think he was as enthusiastic as me, as he didn't look over and by then i had to move forward, and figured it was because it was a demo car and not a private one that he owned? Oh well.

Then saw one the following weekend along a backroad, far from any dealer authorised to sell a Stinger, so it could have been a privately owned one. We met on a corner and both going around 50mph, so i just had time to flash my lights before we passed each other and then it was one glance in my back mirror to admire the rear and then i was round the corner and that was it. Could have turned around and followed it, but that would maybe have been a bit weird!

Then this weekend I saw two Stingers - the first was definitely a privately owned one and met and spoke to the owner as he was walking away from the Stinger into the shop. I was nervous as i had never spoken to someone in person that owned a Stinger and they were really nice. It was a White 2.0 with black interior. Just a shame i was in my gf's car and not the Stinger!

Then this morning on the way to work i spot a black Stinger going the other way and almost break my neck looking! Again, this could have been my local dealer's new demo car, as they all changed them recently here in the UK.

Here in the UK it's very very rare to see a Stinger (1800 forecast to be sold in 2018 across the entire country), so it's always such a great moment seeing one and special. I know it sounds sad but makes my day seeing one!

 

[ScottE]

The other GT on the street drive by while I was outside yesterday. The car has a pretty decent exhaust note, I hadn't heard what one sounds like from outside before.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The other GT on the street drive by while I was outside yesterday. The car has a pretty decent exhaust note, I hadn't heard what one sounds like from outside before.

Me neither. I just barely saw what we "look" like last Friday, following @Gordo's Aurora Black. Hearing one go by might be a while yet.

I guess @Gordo and I could accommodate each other sometime and do drive bys for each other on some nice piece of straight, rural road, with RPMs inside the maximum torque range, tending to the high end for effect. I'd have my camera taking a video as the Black Beast draws near and roars by in a storm of noise, then fades into the distance. That could be fun. How about it?

 

[Slackitude]

I've had mine for about a month, haven't seen another one yet. I have become acutely aware that there are tons of Optimas out there.

 

[Audible Silence]

I've had mine for about a month, haven't seen another one yet. I have become acutely aware that there are tons of Optimas out there.

Same

 

[MerlintheMad]

Yep. I realized that what I took for Stingers just before I pulled the trigger (heightened awareness made me start to look around) were Optimas and not Stingers. Isn't the Optima c. one inch longer overall than the Stinger?

 

[Ozstung]

I've seen a local dealer's 3.3 Red test driver near where i live. The demo cars get taken home by the salesmen each night, presumably so they can experience the car (to be able to better sell it) and also possibly to prevent theft, which makes sense.

Anyway, so i saw it to my left as i was entering a roundabout and had to make a quick correction to where i was headed to avoid hitting the kerb of the middle of the roundabout lol. We then were side by side in traffic and i gave a wave, but don't think he was as enthusiastic as me, as he didn't look over and by then i had to move forward, and figured it was because it was a demo car and not a private one that he owned? Oh well.

Then saw one the following weekend along a backroad, far from any dealer authorised to sell a Stinger, so it could have been a privately owned one. We met on a corner and both going around 50mph, so i just had time to flash my lights before we passed each other and then it was one glance in my back mirror to admire the rear and then i was round the corner and that was it. Could have turned around and followed it, but that would maybe have been a bit weird!

Then this weekend I saw two Stingers - the first was definitely a privately owned one and met and spoke to the owner as he was walking away from the Stinger into the shop. I was nervous as i had never spoken to someone in person that owned a Stinger and they were really nice. It was a White 2.0 with black interior. Just a shame i was in my gf's car and not the Stinger!

Then this morning on the way to work i spot a black Stinger going the other way and almost break my neck looking! Again, this could have been my local dealer's new demo car, as they all changed them recently here in the UK.

Here in the UK it's very very rare to see a Stinger (1800 forecast to be sold in 2018 across the entire country), so it's always such a great moment seeing one and special. I know it sounds sad but makes my day seeing one!

Yeah thats a big ratio 1800 per 60mil to date. You have every right to feel chuffed its a rare beast indeed. I should imagine knowing the Uk like i do theyre would be a fair amount of brand snobbery over there. Our ratio is 2000 to 25mill.

On the 11/12 October was one year since the first Stinger was sold down here. Happy Birthday.. .

 

[TimS]

Yep. I realized that what I took for Stingers just before I pulled the trigger (heightened awareness made me start to look around) were Optimas and not Stingers. Isn't the Optima c. one inch longer overall than the Stinger?

Having an Optima myself, I looked awhile ago to see how much 'smaller' the Stinger would be if I bought one.

According to the data, the Optima is 1" longer, 3" taller, while the Stinger is 1" wider. Pretty close. I am not at all surprised when I hear someone say they've mistaken an Optima for a Stinger.

And yes, seems like there are a lot of Optimas out there now. Was at the grocery store last week and saw FIVE parked in the same row in the parking lot, in a fairly small town. LOL

 

[StingerGT68]

Having an Optima myself, I looked awhile ago to see how much 'smaller' the Stinger would be if I bought one.

According to the data, the Optima is 1" longer, 3" taller, while the Stinger is 1" wider. Pretty close. I am not at all surprised when I hear someone say they've mistaken an Optima for a Stinger.

And yes, seems like there are a lot of Optimas out there now. Was at the grocery store last week and saw FIVE parked in the same row in the parking lot, in a fairly small town. LOL

The Optima was our gateway drug to Kia. My wife had one and now we have a Stinger and a Sorento.

 

[Paul32]

The Optima was our gateway drug to Kia. My wife had one and now we have a Stinger and a Sorento.

Still think this was one of my best looking cars: Photo "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" in the album "My KIA's over the last 5 years." by Paul32

 

[NickUK]

Yeah thats a big ratio 1800 per 60mil to date. You have every right to feel chuffed its a rare beast indeed. I should imagine knowing the Uk like i do theyre would be a fair amount of brand snobbery over there. Our ratio is 2000 to 25mill.

On the 11/12 October was one year since the first Stinger was sold down here. Happy Birthday.. .

Yes, that's certainly true of the UK; KIA have a very tough job on their hands as brand is king for a lot of consumers, so they wouldn't even look outside the parameters of BMW/Merc/Audi.. obviously it's up to them but there are a lot of decent brands out there that while don't have the 'street cred', are making significant movements towards the space occupied by the German brands; KIA being one of them imo.

I'm certain my Stinger gets more looks and stares than all the above mentioned cars simply because it's so rare that people have never seen one before nor know what it is (not to mention it looks stunning), versus your bog standard BMW/Audis etc. that seem to be everywhere you go. My gf actually said she feels like a celebrity with the amount of people that stare as you drive by, whether pedestrians or other drivers!

 

[TimS]

The Optima was our gateway drug to Kia. My wife had one and now we have a Stinger and a Sorento.

Yup! Same here! The 2011 Optima design caught my attention and I became pretty obsessed with getting one and was my first Kia. The looks got me into the showroom, and the features got me to sign on the dotted line. The past 7 years totally changed my view of the company (even though the dealership I dealt with left a LOT to be desired), but now I am sold on the Stinger despite its cost and despite the 'look' some people make when you say the brand name. My loyalty to the brand is now Kia's to lose.

And funny enough, yesterday we were out tooling around running errands and I saw the red Stinger again! Not sure if it was the same one (no good view of the driver), but it definitely wasn't an Optima.

 

[MerlintheMad]

And yes, seems like there are a lot of Optimas out there now.

Iirc, back when the Stinger had sold 5K to 6K MY18s, the Optima had already sold c. 45K to 48K; this was in June or July at the latest. I remember thinking that Optimas were selling c. eight to Stingers one. And that sounded really good for the Stinger in its first year.

 

[davebo]

I know when they finally made the Optima good in 2011, I put it on my watch list and when I seriously started looking in Spring of 2012 it was the only thing that made the cut, since Ford's redesign of the Fusion was slated for the Fall and I wasn't gonna spend another Summer with no A/C in my car. That first year or two I got a lot of compliments on the color and people asking if it was a BMW or Lexus, but definitely not as many as are interested in the Stinger.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The Optima is a very pretty car. If tricked out, fancier rims, lowered and all it can look very sporty. And I have to wonder how sales would have been if Kia had offered a RWD variant before the Stinger came out.

I know when they finally made the Optima good in 2011, I put it on my watch list and when I seriously started looking in Spring of 2012 it was the only thing that made the cut, since Ford's redesign of the Fusion was slated for the Fall and I wasn't gonna spend another Summer with no A/C in my car. That first year or two I got a lot of compliments on the color and people asking if it was a BMW or Lexus, but definitely not as many as are interested in the Stinger.

 

[davebo]

The Optima is a very pretty car. If tricked out, fancier rims, lowered and all it can look very sporty. And I have to wonder how sales would have been if Kia had offered a RWD variant before the Stinger came out.

When I got the Optima my only real complaints were that if it were RWD, more power and a wagon then I could sell my Corvette and it could be my only car. So six years later and a hatchback instead of a wagon that's essentially what happened.

Edit: of course this is all after they did come out with a wagon version of the Optima then didn't release it in America.

 

[TimS]

The Optima is a very pretty car. If tricked out, fancier rims, lowered and all it can look very sporty. And I have to wonder how sales would have been if Kia had offered a RWD variant before the Stinger came out.

For 7 years I had been hoping for an "Optima GT" or something - and the Stinger (at least on paper) surpasses my wishes!

And now I hear there IS going to be an Optima GT or something like that in the future? When it rains.... LOL

 

[Ozstung]

For 7 years I had been hoping for an "Optima GT" or something - and the Stinger (at least on paper) surpasses my wishes!

And now I hear there IS going to be an Optima GT or something like that in the future? When it rains.... LOL

We have Optima Gt's down here, when i went to put my deposit on the Stinger before they were released the sales manager said come and sit in this Optima GT. Well it was that damn impressive i was tempted . The level of refinement and luxury inside was excellent. The car i sat in had these gorgeous burgundy coloured leather seats.

 

[davebo]

In America the Optima GT's are just called Optima SX or SXL's. It's the same Theta II 2.0T that's in the base Stinger, so not quite the same oomph that we're getting from our Stinger GT's.