Jerky Cruise Control?

[Blingen]

I am a new stinger GT2 AWD owner and I took my first long road trip of 400 miles one way. I averaged 28 MPG, but I also noticed the surge and thought something mechanical was wrong with the car which led me to check the forum. It is as though the system only knows how to adjust the throttle in 3-5% increments.

 

[Kazz]

I am a new stinger GT2 AWD owner and I took my first long road trip of 400 miles one way. I averaged 28 MPG, but I also noticed the surge and thought something mechanical was wrong with the car which led me to check the forum. It is as though the system only knows how to adjust the throttle in 3-5% increments.

Noticed it at times with my long trip last weekend, too. Still haven't seen any fixes, unfortunately.

Congrats and welcome, by the way!

 

[MerlintheMad]

I am a new stinger GT2 AWD owner and I took my first long road trip of 400 miles one way. I averaged 28 MPG, but I also noticed the surge and thought something mechanical was wrong with the car which led me to check the forum. It is as though the system only knows how to adjust the throttle in 3-5% increments.

Howdy. It must be a "smart" cruise control thing. I haven't heard of a GT or GT1 with regular/normal cruise control doing this.

 

[Metalmania82]

I have a GT and have the same issues. I rarely ever use the SCC, I find it rather slow to adapt and way too cautious, so I'm usually in "regular" CC.

 

[Fatalifeaten]

I've got a base GT, it's so annoying I don't use cruise at all any more. Been this way since new (4500 miles on the clock now) I just have plain old "dumb" cruise, no smart CC on the base GT. My first service appt is coming up. I'm going to mention it to at least get it on record. Clearly Kia doesn't care at this point, but if it's so jerky that my wife AND kids mention it the first time they're in the car and I have the cruise set without me prompting, it's clearly noticeable.

 

[BlaydeX15]

Mine calmed down after a bit, base GT. I've got 20k miles on it now, and it doesn't do it any more.

Not "I don't notice it any more", but it stopped doing it. Not sure why.

 

[dharbison]

First long trip that I took my GT on I felt this while in cruise. Came to this forum to see if anyone else has had an issue with it. Any further insight into the cause or remedy?

 

[Doel]

Howdy. It must be a "smart" cruise control thing. I haven't heard of a GT or GT1 with regular/normal cruise control doing this.

We call this selective memory. I know I've personally mentioned it with my GT1 without smart cruise and many others have as well. I'm pretty sure every stinger has this problem, just some people don't notice it because it's a bit subtle and/or they live in a flat enough area that they don't use cruise going up hill.

First long trip that I took my GT on I felt this while in cruise. Came to this forum to see if anyone else has had an issue with it. Any further insight into the cause or remedy?

I'm pretty sure the cruise logic has a hard time with really small throttle inputs to maintain speed for some reason, so it's having to give it more throttle than needed and that causes the constant surge, slow, surge, slow, sensation when going uphill. It's a really dumb problem that should be easily fixed, but no one has heard of one.

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

I occasionally get minor surging but it doesn't really bother me. I can see the variations in throttle positions, and it just may be at a particular rpm that there is enough power that when the CC goes to raise speed in a minor adjustment it ends up overshooting. Perhaps the deadband is too narrow. Anyhow...

 

[JeffAsfbay]

I've been on the fence regarding buying a Stinger for a couple years now. I'm now also considering a Kia Telluride and or a Hyundai Palisade. I guess I will have to take those vehicles on an extended test drive to be sure that they do not exhibit the same jerkiness that the Stinger does.

Is there a setting for how quickly the vehicle accelerates once the car ahead of you has moved out of the way (assuming use of adaptive cruise control, and somebody has pulled in front of you and is going slower than your current set speed)? I know the Stinger has a lot of customizations available for certain features so perhaps this is one of them. The new Subaru Outback has a setting for this now for the 2020 model year (you can adjust how much throttle to apply to get you back up to your set speed).

I also agree with what Doel said regarding selective memory and that some people just don't notice it do to terrain or other variables. Also, are people with the 2019 model-year Stinger also experiencing this behavior? And when is the 2020 Stinger due out?

Finally, does anyone with access to Kia's Technical Service Bulletins know if this is documented yet? (Actually, aren't TSB's available online for all to see now, or am I imagining things?) Well, here's one site that has at least some of the 43 TSBs for the Stinger: Kia Stinger Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) I just haven't read through them all yet to see what's in the list. Here's another site: 2018 Kia Stinger TSBs | CarComplaints.com but I don't find TSBs at NHTSA, which I thought I would (just recall campaigns I think).

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

If you are on the fence between a Stinger or a Telluride/Palisade then you must not know what you really want/need. Good luck in your search.

No there is not a setting for what you ask, but the car's response will vary depending on the drive mode...

Before we go full on sky is falling, maybe one of the complainants could post a video of the occurrence, to give others a perspective...

 

[Mike_TX]

I think I posted earlier int he thread somewhere that I had noticed some surge in my 2.0 Premium. I've since gone on a couple of short trips (200 miles or so) and one trip of 2500 miles, and I have to say the cruise in thsi car works fine. What I might have noticed earlier was the 8-speed trans downshifting to maintain speed.

So I'm fine with the cruise control on the Stinger - at least the 2.0 one.

 

[JeffAsfbay]

If you are on the fence between a Stinger or a Telluride/Palisade then you must not know what you really want/need. Good luck in your search.

No there is not a setting for what you ask, but the car's response will vary depending on the drive mode...

Before we go full on sky is falling, maybe one of the complainants could post a video of the occurrence, to give others a perspective...

You are correct, there is great uncertainty as to what vehicle we plan to buy. If it was strictly up to me, it would be the Stinger GT2. But, I have a family to consider so that's why the CUV's are on the list. For that matter, if I didn't mind my wife divorcing me, I would buy the new Corvette

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

You are correct, there is great uncertainty as to what vehicle we plan to buy. If it was strictly up to me, it would be the Stinger GT2. But, I have a family to consider so that's why the CUV's are on the list. For that matter, if I didn't mind my wife divorcing me, I would buy the new Corvette

I really like the Telluride. If it had the 3.3L as an option, it would be a clear winner.

 

[Stinger-Performance]

Before we go full on sky is falling, maybe one of the complainants could post a video of the occurrence, to give others a perspective...

I just drove my new Stinger GT 3 hours home from the dealership and noticed the same problem. Speed doesn't vary but you can feel it (it's similar to riding with someone who doesn't use cruise and is constantly on/off the throttle). I can get a video of it but since it's a "feel" not anything visible, the only thing I can show in the video is the instantaneous MPG gauge constantly going back and forth between about 23mpg and 28mpg as the throttle fluctuates while driving on flat ground. I'm certain it would get better average MPG if it didn't do this.

I'll be driving it 2.5 hours on the highway tomorrow so I'll snag a video of it then and post it here.

 

[WildBill]

I think this post by @MikeysGT pretty much sums it up what is going on. The programmed tip-in when on cruise is far too aggressive.

I just went for a drive with a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter hooked up transmitting data to my phone through the Torque app. I found the 2 smoothest, flattest roads I could find around here and monitored throttle position with CC engaged at 55mph then again at 75mph. Every time I felt the surge I would make sure to watch the throttle reading. At 55mph it jumped up by about 2% every time. At 75mph it was much more apparent and jumped by 4% every time the surge was felt from 24% to 28% or even 29% sometimes. For what reason? I dunno, I'm not a tuner, but if I can find data like this with an $11 adapter and 20 minutes of time, let's hope KIA can do the same and fix the logic.

 

[Stinger-Performance]

I think this post by @MikeysGT pretty much sums it up what is going on. The programmed tip-in when on cruise is far too aggressive.

Yeah, that's certainly what it is. I've got the torque app and BT adapter as well but haven't yet connected it. I'm sure I'd find the same result. They just need to calm down how aggressive the throttle is for CC. It's like they used the values for a low powered 4 cyl car and it's way too much for the TTV6 that's got enough torque to maintain speed with very little change in throttle input. I had the same problem when I turbo swapped an older 4 cyl car and the stock cruise control programming didn't know what to do with the new power. It would surge the same (only worse) but it was an older system.

 

[JeffAsfbay]

I really like the Telluride. If it had the 3.3L as an option, it would be a clear winner.

Amen, but I'm guessing Genesis will get that engine first for their SUVs in development. But one can hope

 

[JeffAsfbay]

From MikeysGT post:
MikeysGT said: ↑
>I just went for a drive with a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter hooked up transmitting data to my phone
>through the Torque app. I found the 2 smoothest, flattest roads I could find around here and
>monitored throttle position with CC engaged at 55mph then again at 75mph. Every time I felt the
>surge I would make sure to watch the throttle reading. At 55mph it jumped up by about 2% every
>time. At 75mph it was much more apparent and jumped by 4% every time the surge was felt from
>24% to 28% or even 29% sometimes. For what reason? I dunno, I'm not a tuner, but if I can find ?
>data like this with an $11 adapter and 20 minutes of time, let's hope KIA can do the same and fix
>the logic.

I'm sorry to be slow, but if Mike is around, my question is: when you say it goes up by 2%, do you mean 2% increments or just 2% total? Because later in your post you talk about increases of much 24% and 28-29%, which of course seems like way too much. I suggest (since the Stinger is already so very customizable) they add a menu option for how aggressive the car responds when a lead car that has slowed the Stinger down moves out of the way, allowing the Stinger to speed back up to the set point.

 

[Stinger-Performance]

From MikeysGT post:
MikeysGT said: ↑
>I just went for a drive with a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter hooked up transmitting data to my phone
>through the Torque app. I found the 2 smoothest, flattest roads I could find around here and
>monitored throttle position with CC engaged at 55mph then again at 75mph. Every time I felt the
>surge I would make sure to watch the throttle reading. At 55mph it jumped up by about 2% every
>time. At 75mph it was much more apparent and jumped by 4% every time the surge was felt from
>24% to 28% or even 29% sometimes. For what reason? I dunno, I'm not a tuner, but if I can find ?
>data like this with an $11 adapter and 20 minutes of time, let's hope KIA can do the same and fix
>the logic.

I'm sorry to be slow, but if Mike is around, my question is: when you say it goes up by 2%, do you mean 2% increments or just 2% total? Because later in your post you talk about increases of much 24% and 28-29%, which of course seems like way too much. I suggest (since the Stinger is already so very customizable) they add a menu option for how aggressive the car responds when a lead car that has slowed the Stinger down moves out of the way, allowing the Stinger to speed back up to the set point.

He's saying normally it's moving by about 2% normally but sometimes it moves as much as 5% (for example, going from 24% throttle to 28% or 29% throttle).

How fast it speeds back up after a vehicle moves out of the way is a separate issue and would be more related to the power of the "resume" button.

I tried to get a video tonight but my phone refused to focus on the dash at night. I'll do it tomorrow in daylight and it should focus so I can get a good video.