Comfort vs Sport suspension

[liho1eye]

Can anyone feel any difference in suspension between Comfort and Sport mode on their Stinger? I assume Sport mode should be stiffer, but I can't actually feel it.

Mine is GT Limited (GT2) model.

 

[Dochidalgo]

My former 2016 Nissan Maxima SR had a stiffier suspension than my Stinger GT2, both with 19" wheels and low profile tires ( the OEM Goodyear F1 noisy and hard rubber. I exchanged them with Michelin Pilot Sport 4...a huge difference in confort and handling)...
The suspension setting "sport" would exhibit its attributes on hard driving I guess, like is showed in several videos on speed tracks.....

 

[liho1eye]

Can you feel the difference yourself when switching driving modes?

 

[Olexandr]

I don't feel a drastic difference in suspension feel and ride softness between Comfort and Sport. GT2

 

[Capecod]

I only notice the throttle response when going from comfort to Sport

 

[automatoes]

I can absolutely feel a change in suspension when switching to sport on inner city roads. Every time I put it in sports mode from comfort, I can see myself and the wife bouncing up and down over little rough spots / tram lines, whereas the car would otherwise just glide over everything.

 

[eflyguy]

Holy thread bump...

That said, mine is significantly firmer in Sport.

 

[Rob M]

I can absolutely feel a change in suspension when switching to sport on inner city roads. Every time I put it in sports mode from comfort, I can see myself and the wife bouncing up and down over little rough spots / tram lines, whereas the car would otherwise just glide over everything.

Automatoes decides one day to take the wife out for dinner in downtown Melbourne. Along the way he places his Kia Stinger into Sport mode and then decides to take a little known shortcut that just happens to traverse some rough pavement and tram line tracks. His wife, bouncing up and down, exclaims, "I don't think I've ever come this way before". To which Automatoes replies, "It must be a combination of Sport mode and all those bumps".

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I have a significant difference between comfort & sport.
Comfort: Sedate gear changes, glides over rough roads uses all 8 gears.
Sport: Seems to wake up the inner beast, quick of the mark, acceleration moves up to another level, suspension firms up & only 7 gears in use & rev. range changes to alter gear changes.
I absolutely love the differences between the two settings, it’s night & day.

 

[Oryan]

I notice a difference if the roads are crappy or I push the car in a corner fairly hard. I just can't go to full Comfort mode, though. Having the drivetrain in anything other than Sport makes this car feel completely dead.

 

[Flameangel]

For me Comfort versus Sport mode is like chalk and cheese, I can really feel the difference.
The Bimodal opens up more in sport, drivetrain/suspension. stiffer, notice bumps and rough surface on roads more so tend to drive in Custom mode.
In Custom I have the suspension in comfort and the drivetrain in sport, best of both worlds.

 

[Ty Davis]

Can anyone feel any difference in suspension between Comfort and Sport mode on their Stinger? I assume Sport mode should be stiffer, but I can't actually feel it.

Mine is GT Limited (GT2) model.

There is a difference between Comfort and Sport setting...
I find bump absorption to be very similar amongst both modes. You may or may not "feel" the difference here, depending on the road surface and your sensitivity to minute changes.

The big difference between Comfort and Sport is in body control and handling attitude.
SPORT noticeably reduces the tendency of the car to bounce up and down over humps and imperfections, especially at the rear.
Neither mode reduces this enough though, as they are unable to keep the car "flat" over undulating terrain.
Sport mode also reduces lean of the chassis in corners. Body roll is sufficiently reduced in Sport. Swerve the steering back and forth a bit at 50 mph and you will find that sport prevents body roll better than comfort mode. Very easy to see and feel.

The other difference is that Sport mode reduces understeer by stiffening the rear more than the front. This makes the fronts grip a bit better in corners and the rears a bit more eager to slide. This allows for a touch of extra playfulness in the handling behavior during transient manuevers. However, to be honest, this effect is very subtle and you may or may not detect it.

The outlier in all of this is the Australian RWD 3.3 GT model.
It has the largest range between Comfort and Sport suspension modes.
The Australian model gets very firm in Sport Mode, to the point that it can be a bit jittery and choppy over even slight imperfections in Sport. However, body roll is superbly controlled on the Aus Sport mode.

I've tried all of the regional suspension settings by coding the suspension module, to see how each is tuned.
Korea gets the softest tuning.
AUSTRALIA gets the firmest suspension.
North America/Russia/Europe each get their own tuning that falls somewhere in the middle.

 

[automatoes]

Automatoes decides one day to take the wife out for dinner in downtown Melbourne. Along the way he places his Kia Stinger into Sport mode and then decides to take a little known shortcut that just happens to traverse some rough pavement and tram line tracks. His wife, bouncing up and down, exclaims, "I don't think I've ever come this way before". To which Automatoes replies, "It must be a combination of Sport mode and all those bumps".

A lot of this is quite close to what actually happened except we live near this road and it's usually the way home. That means we're always going over tram lines and rough spots.

The Australian model gets very firm in Sport Mode, to the point that it can be a bit jittery and choppy over even slight imperfections in Sport. However, body roll is superbly controlled on the Aus Sport mode.

This is very much my experience so far. A lot of reviews have also emphasised that the tuning is particular to Australian roads.

 

[Ty Davis]

A lot of this is quite close to what actually happened except we live near this road and it's usually the way home. That means we're always going over tram lines and rough spots.



This is very much my experience so far. A lot of reviews have also emphasised that the tuning is particular to Australian roads.

I was very close to buying the complete Australian suspension package (shocks, springs, and bars).
However, I was unsure if the Australian model completely rode exactly. I can apply the AUS settings to my stock USA shocks, but USA shocks are obviously valved differently than AUS shocks, in addition to different computer calibrations.

How would you characterize your AUS ride quality?
Do you still have bounce in the front and rear of the car over dips and bumps?

 

[Nasscar]

I only notice the throttle response when going from comfort to Sport

I find a huge difference between sport and comfort with throttle response. I always use sport unless I forget to change it when I get back in the car. I then think it feels a little bit sluggish.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

I was very close to buying the complete Australian suspension package (shocks, springs, and bars).
However, I was unsure if the Australian model completely rode exactly. I can apply the AUS settings to my stock USA shocks, but USA shocks are obviously valved differently than AUS shocks, in addition to different computer calibrations.

How would you characterize your AUS ride quality?
Do you still have bounce in the front and rear of the car over dips and bumps?

From what has been written about the differences in suspension between AU & US it seems apparent to me that the set ups are entirely different.
As stated before the differences between Comfort & Sport are night & day here in AU, but by all accounts there does not seem to be a great difference experienced by US owners.
I am wondering if this is only a suspension program difference between the two countries or is the actual hardware installed in the cars different.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

The outlier in all of this is the Australian RWD 3.3 GT model.
It has the largest range between Comfort and Sport suspension modes.
The Australian model gets very firm in Sport Mode, to the point that it can be a bit jittery and choppy over even slight imperfections in Sport. However, body roll is superbly controlled on the Aus Sport mode.

You’ve pretty much nailed the differences in the AU settings with your explanation.

 

[Nasscar]

From what has been written about the differences in suspension between AU & US it seems apparent to me that the set ups are entirely different.
As stated before the differences between Comfort & Sport are night & day here in AU, but by all accounts there does not seem to be a great difference experienced by US owners.
I am wondering if this is only a suspension program difference between the two countries or is the actual hardware installed in the cars different.

All Australian Kia vehicles are subject to a local suspension tune due to our crappy roads. Unsure what they do with the North American vehicles. As stated previously in another post, the Koreans have a much softer setup. This is why so many European vehicle suspensions are too stiff. No local suspension tune. Set up for the smooth European roads

 

[Ozstung]

I was very close to buying the complete Australian suspension package (shocks, springs, and bars).
However, I was unsure if the Australian model completely rode exactly. I can apply the AUS settings to my stock USA shocks, but USA shocks are obviously valved differently than AUS shocks, in addition to different computer calibrations.

How would you characterize your AUS ride quality?
Do you still have bounce in the front and rear of the car over dips and bumps?

I'm wondering if the Tuning of the Australian model on the later model 2019/20 has been firmed up a bit compared to the 2017/19 model? There's been less talk about the rear waggle/wallow on the newer models. And when asked these owners don't report the issue like us early owners did. Just a theory.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

All Australian Kia vehicles are subject to a local suspension tune due to our crappy roads. Unsure what they do with the North American vehicles. As stated previously in another post, the Koreans have a much softer setup. This is why so many European vehicle suspensions are too stiff. No local suspension tune. Set up for the smooth European roads

Yes I have been aware of specific suspension tuning for AU Kia’s, I think it has more to do with RHD versions in conjunction with crap roads.
Most US owners have reported very little difference between Comfort & Sport since the day they received them.
Now that @Ty Davis has experienced all regional suspension settings it just goes to show the differences between regional models based on the same vehicle, so in theory all is not the same.