Comfort vs Sport suspension

[Ty Davis]

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.

The Australian ECS programming does have large differences programmed into it. I tried it on my USA car. With AUS suspension settings, even my American shocks had abid difference between Comgort and Sport. However, when applying AUS ECS settings to the USA car, the rear of the car was really solid and firm (just about perfect), but the front suspension was still a bit bouncy and nervous with its sharp vertical body motions. The spring rates and anti roll bars are probably more similar than the programming is. The actual shocks are probably pretty different too, with their own mechanical damping curve that can't be changed.

 

[Ty Davis]

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.

My 2019 never had the sideways skipping of the rear that some have mentioned. The tires always stayed firmly planted to the ground and maintained the correct cornering path, even on bumpy roads at speed. However, this car has suffered from far too dramatic vertical oscillations of the rear suspension over less than smooth roads. The front suffers the same problem too, though to a lesser degree.
The body can wobble a bit on its suspension (almost like a 4way see-saw) sometimes. Though this is annoying, the cars actual path control has been rock solid.

I checked the part numbers for the suspension, control arms, bushings, shocks, bars, and springs and ECS computer. It seems nothing has changed since introduction.

My cars prior to this have been BMW's. The rear tires on those would slip/ skip sideways a bit when cornering hard on bad pavement if the cars suspension alignment was out of adjustment or rear tires were worn unevenly. A 4 wheel alignment fixed that on those cars. I always figured that the people who had sideways skipping on the Stinger also had bad alignment. It can be bad from the factory.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

The Australian ECS programming does have large differences programmed into it. I tried it on my USA car. With AUS suspension settings, even my American shocks had abid difference between Comgort and Sport. However, when applying AUS ECS settings to the USA car, the rear of the car was really solid and firm (just about perfect), but the front suspension was still a bit bouncy and nervous with its sharp vertical body motions. The spring rates and anti roll bars are probably more similar than the programming is. The actual shocks are probably pretty different too, with their own mechanical damping curve that can't be changed.

Interesting, I have not felt the front suspension “ bouncy” as you state however your pretty spot on about the rear being solid.
Are you running aftermarket swaybars, I have the Eibach front & rear on softest setting + the Whiteline Heavy Duty End Links although these do not effect ride quality I have experienced a great improvement in handling especially in Sport Mode, it’s like this thing runs on rails & it totally suits my driving style.
It would be interesting if you had Eibachs fitted & do testing with the different regional ECS settings for a comparison between OE sways & aftermarket.
Also a comparison between springs OE, Eibach & H&K with different regional ECS settings would be interesting.

 

[Ty Davis]

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.

Another interesting regional change I've found...
The USA Stinger Electronic Power Steering tune is very light, but very sharp.
I coded the EPS to Euro 2.2 Diesel VGT RWD. It has the stiffest steering. But its slightly less sharp.
You can also code Genesis G70 EPS. It has in between the USA and Euro VGT in both firmness and sharpness.
All of the other EPS settings are so similar I didn't use them much.

For the EPS, the notable differences were that the USA RWD had the sharpest steering and lightest too.
The Euro VGT was firmest.

It's quite nice.

 

[Ty Davis]

Interesting, I have not felt the front suspension “ bouncy” as you state however your pretty spot on about the rear being solid.
Are you running aftermarket swaybars, I have the Eibach front & rear on softest setting + the Whiteline Heavy Duty End Links although these do not effect ride quality I have experienced a great improvement in handling especially in Sport Mode, it’s like this thing runs on rails & it totally suits my driving style.
It would be interesting if you had Eibachs fitted & do testing with the different regional ECS settings for a comparison between OE sways & aftermarket.
Also a comparison between springs OE, Eibach & H&K with different regional ECS settings would be interesting.

Since you don't get bounce up front, I guess that comes from my mismatched soppy USA front shocks. The AUS ECS calibration just isn't matching up with the sloppy/soft USA internal shock valving curve. All of my testing has been on stock suspension. I bought aftermarket coilovers, so now I have no ECS to play with. If I go back to Kia suspension I think I will try the AUS shocks with Eibach springs.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Another interesting regional change I've found...
The USA Stinger Electronic Power Steering tune is very light, but very sharp.
I coded the EPS to Euro 2.2 Diesel VGT RWD. It has the stiffest steering. But its slightly less sharp.
You can also code Genesis G70 EPS. It has in between the USA and Euro VGT in both firmness and sharpness.
All of the other EPS settings are so similar I didn't use them much.

For the EPS, the notable differences were that the USA RWD had the sharpest steering and lightest too.
The Euro VGT was firmest.

It's quite nice.

Very interesting, I really like the EPS on mine.
Do you own AWD or RWD?

 

[Stinger GT SS]

Since you don't get bounce up front, I guess that comes from my mismatched soppy USA front shocks. The AUS ECS calibration just isn't matching up with the sloppy/soft USA internal shock valving curve. All of my testing has been on stock suspension. I bought aftermarket coilovers, so now I have no ECS to play with. If I go back to Kia suspension I think I will try the AUS shocks with Eibach springs.

The front bounce could be just different spring rates, we on have RWD here in AU so there may lay the difference.

 

[Ty Davis]

Very interesting, I really like the EPS on mine.
Do you own AWD or RWD?

2019 RWD GT2.
The steering was quite fine in its stock form. However, years of BMW ownership left me wanting for firmer weighting.
The VGT setting brought some.

Most people don't realize, but firmer suspension and wider tires increase steering effort too. Now with my coilovers on, the steering effort is even firmer.

 

[Stinger GT SS]

2019 RWD GT2.
The steering was quite fine in its stock form. However, years of BMW ownership left me wanting for firmer weighting.
The VGT setting brought some.

Most people don't realize, but firmer suspension and wider tires increase steering effort too. Now with my coilovers on, the steering effort is even firmer.

I upgraded to wider tyres: 245/35/19 on the front & 275/30/19 on the rear, the car now has a bigger footprint on the road & feels more planted especially when cornering or going hard though windy roads, steering feels firmer & very direct & responsive.

 

[Nasscar]

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.

Same, same but different.