The 2019 Stinger has worse fuel economy than the 2018 Stinger? Why?

[pantheman75]

I was just browsing the U.S Department of Energy fuel economy website and just noticed that the official MPG ratings for 2019 Stinger with the 3.3L engine are worse than the 2018 equivalent. I don't know of any major mechanical changes between those two years... does anybody have any idea why that might be?

Check it out:
Compare Side-by-Side

 

[Get Stung]

I was just browsing the U.S Department of Energy fuel economy website and just noticed that the official MPG ratings for 2019 Stinger with the 3.3L engine are worse than the 2018 equivalent. I don't know of any major mechanical changes between those two years... does anybody have any idea why that might be?

Check it out:
Compare Side-by-Side

 

[pantheman75]

Thanks!

One thing that's pretty impressive about these beasts is that the AWD models don't have a fuel economy hit when compared to the RWD models.

 

[Waynerm002]

There was a story posted about it, KIA restated the economy to be in line with how people really use the car.

 

[GenesisG70]

And here we go again lets sue Kia for 1mpg.

 

[techguy888]

I'm only through my first half a tank in my Stinger so I am by no means drawing any final conclusions from my experience thus far, but this thing just EATS gas. I've seen the average as low as 12MPG and it's been anywhere from 15-17 so far. There has been a lot of snow lately though so plenty of stop and go traffic, and a fair amount of stress-relieving pushing the car when traffic finally opens up so like I said, no final conclusions yet.

Reminds me of my 2014 STI on E85 with 1000CC injectors and upgraded turbo (55mm - 24 psi). 12MPG was about average in that vehicle. Whole different story being on E85 though.

 

[GenesisG70]

Mine gives me 22 to 25 mpg average speed 65 to 70mph mostly highways rarely floor the pedal.

 

[techguy888]

Mine gives me 22 to 25 mpg average speed 65 to 70mph mostly highways rarely floor the pedal.

Forgot to mention a lot of that driving has been in Sport mode too. I switched to Smart and the RPMS dropped an average of 1000 in any gear at any given speed. That will make a difference.

 

[Rob M]

Kia looks weak for voluntarily complying with this EPA request. Such nonsense can result in mildly eco-oriented people not buying this car. EPA fuel economy labels are only meaningful in that they give an idea (though the test schedules are completely unrealistic) of what kind of mileage a consumer can expect to get when they are actually trying to get decent fuel economy. Kia should be able to do this test in Eco mode if they want. Or perhaps even Comfort or Smart, or any combination of the 3. But no one who is driving around in Sport mode is at that moment much interested in fuel economy. Who would place their Stinger in Sport mode and then "wildly" accelerate from 0 - 60 mph in 18 seconds?

 

[Oryan]

The average person shopping for a RWD/AWD car with a twin-turbo V6 doesn't give a damn about fuel economy numbers.

 

[Peeso33]

The average person shopping for a RWD/AWD car with a twin-turbo V6 doesn't give a damn about fuel economy numbers.

True, but the tank is on the smaller side. It's annoying to be going the gas station every 5 days if you've got a long daily commute.

 

[Oryan]

True, but the tank is on the smaller side. It's annoying to be going the gas station every 5 days if you've got a long daily commute.

If you aren't used to it, I could see how that may start to be an annoyance. The Genesis Coupe ironically has a larger fuel tank but I beat the piss out of mine so I'm used to filling up every few days, especially since I don't let the tank go below 1/3 or so whenever possible. Without traffic my commute for now is about a half hour. Hopefully I'll cut that down to 15 minutes later this year.

 

[techguy888]

The average person shopping for a RWD/AWD car with a twin-turbo V6 doesn't give a damn about fuel economy numbers.

Yep. These numbers are low but I'm having a blast (especially in the snow) so I don't care! As long as I don't need to fill up 10 times on the way to work I'm good

 

[Rob M]

The average person shopping for a RWD/AWD car with a twin-turbo V6 doesn't give a damn about fuel economy numbers.

So if the GT was rated at say 10 mpg city, 16 mpg hwy, with the same engine performance, sales would be the same? I doubt it (I know I wouldn't have been interested). Fuel economy may not be at the top of the list of considerations for many GT buyers, but it is at least somewhere on the list for a good number (a few have even unashamedly entered their data on fuelly.com). There's a point at which some potential buyers will turn away. In this case, there is a hit on paper of more than 10% to city mpg. And, what happens if gasoline prices rise? Fuel economy is the number one consideration overall amongst all drivers, but the vast majority of them still don't buy subcompacts. Some people, me included, like to have a mixture of performance, comfort, utility, and economy. The Stinger GT provides such a combination. Maybe "the average person shopping for a RWD/AWD car with a twin-turbo" doesn't care but Kia thought they might and put in the Eco driving mode. It would be funny if Kia realizing their error would eliminate Eco for the 2020 model year.

 

[Billy M]

I'm only through my first half a tank in my Stinger so I am by no means drawing any final conclusions from my experience thus far, but this thing just EATS gas. I've seen the average as low as 12MPG and it's been anywhere from 15-17 so far. There has been a lot of snow lately though so plenty of stop and go traffic, and a fair amount of stress-relieving pushing the car when traffic finally opens up so like I said, no final conclusions yet.

Reminds me of my 2014 STI on E85 with 1000CC injectors and upgraded turbo (55mm - 24 psi). 12MPG was about average in that vehicle. Whole different story being on E85 though.

mmmm I miss my 2014 STI "Judy"

 

[techguy888]

Nice hatch. I went with the sedan because wing!

 

[Billy M]

Nice hatch. I went with the sedan because wing!

You misspelled wang.. “big wang”

 

[Billy M]

Nice hatch. I went with the sedan because wing!

I some got conned by my wife into trading it for a grand Cherokee for her when we had our kid.... the stinger is to be my retribution.

 

[GenesisG70]

I drive mine daily so for me mpg still matters. Don't expect hybrid mpg but decent mpg which the stinger on eco mode provides

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I did 1400kms (870mls) over 3 days, the screen shot was my first leg of the trip, it was non-stop @ Highway Driving 110kms/hr (68mls/hr) with cruise control on.

Mine is an MY18 = Oct.17 build
361kms = 224mls
7.3 litres per 100kms = 32 miles per gallon
For a V6 twin turbo, heavy sedan carrying 2 adults & luggage these are pretty impressive results.