thinking of getting a stinger gt

[Coast GT]

If your car’s specified to run on premium unleaded. It means the maker has designed the cylinders to produce more pressure and thus extract more power from the fuel. Sadly, if your car is tuned to run on regular unleaded then pumping premium into it won’t extract more power. Sorry.

Never said anything about trying to get more power or engine tunes. I don’t have the mechanical knowledge to comment on it so I won’t.

Re-read my post and what I was responding to. Simply disagreed with what a dealer had told someone that it was necessary to only run 91. It’s not necessary to only run it, it’s the minimum rated fuel you can use. It’s not an issue to put a higher rated fuel in the car, I only use 95, others only use 98, some are happy to only use 91. A lot of places around me don’t stock regular 91, they stock E10, 95, and 98. There’s no way I’m running E10 so 95 it is.

 

[Fboost]

Now I have read in this forum that the cars computer compensates for the higher octane and adjusts the timing, so you can get better power mileage with 98RON. Is it true?

I could be wrong here but I think it's more that the computer will basically Retard the timing if the mixtures aren't safe, so technically you could get better performance from 98 but only if the standard fuel if performing below par
Which I think is a common thing with regular fuel
Going back a few years a friend of mine use to own an independent service station and was trying to get independent testers to test shell, BP etc as he insisted they mixed the fuel with substitutes (watered down essentially) to make it cheaper
I'm not one for conspiracy theories but my personal experiences would lend creedance to this being a possibility.

 

[AV8R]

I could be wrong here but I think it's more that the computer will basically Retard the timing if the mixtures aren't safe, so technically you could get better performance from 98 but only if the standard fuel if performing below par
Which I think is a common thing with regular fuel
Going back a few years a friend of mine use to own an independent service station and was trying to get independent testers to test shell, BP etc as he insisted they mixed the fuel with substitutes (watered down essentially) to make it cheaper
I'm not one for conspiracy theories but my personal experiences would lend creedance to this being a possibility.

Never thought they would water it down as you say. What substitutes would they use to do that?

 

[Fboost]

Never thought they would water it down as you say. What substitutes would they use to do that?

Off the top of my head I can't remember, it was over 10yrs ago and at the time I just thought he was crazy

 

[Bigbikes]

Now I have read in this forum that the cars computer compensates for the higher octane and adjusts the timing, so you can get better power mileage with 98RON. Is it true?

On some cars thats true, but as the stinger is setup for our 91 running higher octane will not give any horsepower gains as the comp doesn't compensate for that it will only retard engine from knocking with crappy fuel...But higher octane does keep cylinder heads cleaner..so thats a long term gain..cheers

 

[Manaz]

Now I have read in this forum that the cars computer compensates for the higher octane and adjusts the timing, so you can get better power mileage with 98RON. Is it true?

It depends on how the ECU works with the knock sensor.

In theory, the ECU could advance timing until it detects knock, then back it off a little to keep things safe. But there are generally limits to how much advance the factory ECU tune is willing to add, and those limits are, generally as I understand it, below what's required to take full advantage of higher octane fuels.

Why those limits? Generally to keep the engine safe from the least-common denominator owner.

 

[Manaz]

But higher octane does keep cylinder heads cleaner..so thats a long term gain..cheers

Higher octane fuel on its own doesn't really do this - the octane level determines how controlled a burn you can have. Cleaner engine claims generally come from the additional detergent additives that get thrown in with higher octane fuels.

 

[19GT-AWD]

Too much unintended confusion on this thread because of the different ways octane ratings are computed around the world.

Ultimately, the only thing that should matter to any of us is what octane fuel (adjusted for the country that we live in) that KIA made the advertised 365 hp/376 lb-ft. For those of us in the US, that's 91 octane.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Read the manual in your country, wherever you are. It will say the recommended octane rating without any confusion.

 

[Manaz]

Off the top of my head I can't remember, it was over 10yrs ago and at the time I just thought he was crazy

It may have been ethanol - ethanol boosts octane ratings, but actually reduces specific power (the energy you get by burning a given amount of fuel). Ethanol also absorbs water, which can be helpful to the petrol station if they end up with water in their tanks.

Toluene can boost octane too, but I believe it's more expensive than petrol (so is unlikely to move used as a "watering down" agent) - it's a large component of "octane booster" products.

 

[AV8R]

I have also heard that ethanol corrodes your fuel tank faster too. Is that true?

 

[Manaz]

I have also heard that ethanol corrodes your fuel tank faster too. Is that true?

Ethanol can corrode some fuel system components in older cars that were designed and produced before ethanol usage became prevalent - mostly rubbers, as it reacts with them at a chemical level.

There's no excuse for it to occur in modern vehicles though, and I'd be genuinely surprised if it impacted our Stingers.

I am sure we are going to see big-power E85 tunes for our cars - I mentioned before that ethanol contains less specific power than petrol, and this still stands - but ethanol has a lot of beneficial properties (it burns cooler, it resists pre-detonation very well, it actually carries its own oxygen into combustion), and as long as you burn enough of it (and tune appropriately - more boost, more fuel, more timing advance, etc), then your engine can produce more power with it.

 

[Kato]

So finally had mine looked at (had to postpone due to flu). Took em 2 days as they had to pull the seats out, headliner and all the trim. The noise is much reduced but not eliminated but if you're talking with someone or the radio is on at vol 2 or more you can't hear it. Figuring at this point it's basically a solved issue as it's extremely rare I'm sitting at 60kph in complete silence.

 

[Ozstung]

Hi Kato that's good to hear. Are you part of the Canberra cruise on the 28th July?
If not see thread "Canberra cruise"

 

[Kato]

Hi Kato that's good to hear. Are you part of the Canberra cruise on the 28th July?
If not see thread "Canberra cruise"

Yup switched from interested to going today.

 

[Ozstung]

Yup switched from interested to going today.

Good to hear the numbers are growing and quite a few of us Sydney folk are making the trip with an overnight stay.

 

[Kato]

Good to hear the numbers are growing and quite a few of us Sydney folk are making the trip with an overnight stay.

Yeah should be good. Hoping we don't wind up with snow at corin forest because that road is really good fun and it'd be a shame to miss out on it. Trying to get a mate of mine who grabbed a GT a few months ago to come too. Not sure if he will tho.

 

[Ozstung]

Yeah should be good. Hoping we don't wind up with snow at corin forest because that road is really good fun and it'd be a shame to miss out on it. Trying to get a mate of mine who grabbed a GT a few months ago to come too. Not sure if he will tho.

It would be great if we could muster 19 stingers. Our Northern American friends managed in there last effort to equal our 18 Stinger meet record. It would be quite an effort if we could better it. The capital - a good place to claim the lead again.

 

[PxbVic]

I had been waiting for the g70 but with the ridiculous pricing on that I'm now moving back to my original thought of the stinger gt (I prefer the more practical hatch anyway)

A couple of things that I'm a bit concerned about

I'm hearing stories of rattles and creaks etc after a while, does this tend to be only in the early models ? have they now got it under control

I test drove a 2017 build 2018 Stinger in February 2019 with 28,000 km on the clock, this was enough to buy the car it was silent and without any noise issues and was a hard driven dealer demo. I had this car for 2 days and can assure you I was not at all kind to it. My Aug 2018 build MY2019 car is perfect no squeaks, rattles or any strange noises. My opinion of the squeaks and rattles are limited to small quality control issues on the production line and not something systemic to the vehicle.

When I last looked at this some 12 months ago, the fitting of the tow bar was horrendous, they cut out a huge section of the bottom apron, do we know if they've remedy this problem

The factory tow bar looked horrendous to me when I looked at it in the dealers. so I've looked at this bar in Australia Stinger, for light towing loads it is superior, yes they still have to cut a hole in the rear diffuser, but the end result is much cleaner. The fact the entire tongue and ball assembly can be removed, it does not upset the aesthetic of the vehicle when towing is not required and it's cheaper than Kia's tow bar if you don't get a tow bar thrown in.

I note that the recommended fuel is actually only regular 91 unleaded, has anyone noticed any advantage in running higher octane, do we know if there has been any dyno testing done comparing high and low octane

There are several issues with all comments here, but I will state some Engineering facts about the engine design and about fuels.
1: Dyno tuning when all that has changed is the fuel RON/Octane, will not show any performance improvement, it just won't.

2: The car is tuned for 91 RON fuel in Australia, using anything but 91 fuel without the engine being tuned specifically for a higher RON/Octane fuel is just wasting money on expensive fuel.

3: Sorry all but, anyone who puts higher RON/Octane fuel into a car that is not specifically tuned for that higher RON/Octane fuel and states "they get more power, cleaner running, better acceleration, better economy, etc", these points of view are purely subjective and not backed by any scientific fact without appropriate tuning of the engine.

3: The 3.3L T-GDI (Turbo Gasoline Direct Injection) Lambda II engine with a compression ratio of 10:1 (this is high for a turbo charged engine) employs direct cylinder injection. This is a very important distinction from MPI engines (Multi Point Injection) because it allows a high compression turbo charged engine to use low RON/Octane fuel.

This is achieved by introducing fuel into the cylinder from the injection system at the point of ignition (generally in 3 to 5 micro bursts measured in nano seconds). The fuel is NOT mixed with air in the intake port or manifold before entering the cylinder. Therefore the old principal of knock from low octane fuels does not apply to this engine technology.

For the record the fuel rail pressure for the direct injection system is somewhere around 3000 PSI to overcome the pressure in the cylinder when the fuel is introduced for ignition. Knock cannot occur with this engine design as there is no fuel in the cylinder to pre-ignite and cause knock during the compression stroke.

4: To balance the argument, yes the engine can be tuned for higher RON/Octane fuels and get significant power increases, but only if it is tuned for it, and considerations to intake and exhaust systems would be required. Although KIA have left a lot of meat on the bone with this engine a simple bolt on RB4 or other aftermarket piggy back ECU can get some serious power gains with no other hardware required and using a map for a higher RON/Octane fuel.

From an Engineering perspective the engine is a real gem, and given KIA have backed it with 7 years warranty I would suggest with regular servicing and in standard trim the engine is all but bulletproof.

I hope this helps. Sorry for the rant.

 

[Legendsk]

There is a lot of good information in this thread, but it also may contain potentially confusing information to at least USA owners. The OM specifically states 87 octane is the minimum. That's 87 PUMP octane. That is the only number really seen by American gasoline buyers because all gas pumps are required to have the (R+M)/2 method octane printed on the pumps - so that's the number consumers will see. All those posts saying 91 (ROM) octane is the minimum may confuse readers who don't pay close attention to the distinction. Particularly if they don't read the OM carefully as so often happens <sigh>.