Popular or unpopular opinion? 2022 Stinger is ugly.

[ChaneRZ]

I just hate the exhaust tips. It is huge with small dinky straw peaking inside it lol.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I've seen the '22 in the flesh, a bunch of them at the same time. The wheels are cool in this respect: if you look at them straight up, they are five-spoke parallel: and then suddenly they are five-spoke splayed, so, two styles in one. (I hardly ever see a wheel I don't like.)

The yooge exhaust tips only admit that there is a small exhaust pipe port back inside there; the oval (previous) exhaust tips hide this fact better, is all. I like the redesigned diffuser and the new tips suit it well enough.

DRL, I see no difference worthy of mention, vis-a-vis "this one looks better than that one".

Rear turn signals and continuous lit up bar: I think that a bunch of enthusiasts are going to aftermarket their turn signals into sequential: and I'm pretty sure that if I had this new taillight getup I'd be on that right away: nothing is going to say, "New Stinger" better than a sequential rear turn signal. As for the "Charger" light bar: I always wanted my red hatch lid plastic to be lit up, so that's a good change, in my humble opinion: I would have been even more satisfied if Kia had left that nonfunctional red plastic out of the design in the first place.

GT1 downgraded features: the middle trim has given up to both the GT2 and GT-Line; get over it; the GT1 is simply for those (few?) who want the 3.3TT in its raw form and don't want to pay for all that other stuff. If I were buying a Stinger today, and the "factory" stereo sounded good enough (it should have just as much bass as the HK), I'd get it: love having the sunroof, and the '22 GT1 still has that option. All the other gadgets are not deal breakers.

 

[junesrig]

You're all bullies on here, I still like my 2022. Look at that rear it's still a Stinger and the only option if you want a base trim.

 

[343BlueR32]

Decontenting is one thing, and is completely unrelated to looks. With that said, Kia virtually destroyed the value proposition for the GT1 that it had before. The GT-Line is now where the value is probably highest due to the stronger available engine and that all the safety and convenience features are the same until you move up to the GT2.

Personally, I wanted a GT with a sunroof. That is essentially what I got. The only thing that bugs me is we don't get the 7in supervision cluster. However the fact that we have LTE and OTA mapping and navigation and I don't have to modify my exhaust and have funky wiring to get electronically controlled variable exhaust is a win in my book.

But as far as looks go, I don't understand the need for existing owners to keep bashing the new design. I'm greatly sorry that the taillights and exhaust tips bug you all, and I hope that at a meet up I can apologize enough to placate earlier model year owners.

I actually totally agree with you on it. The new 4 cylinder engine certainly stole the show on the lower side of the price range at the expense of the GT1 trim level. I almost feel like they should have just gotten rid of the GT1 trim level and just named it the GT trim level since it would just be a hard sell to say the same trim level in the newer car comes with less features than the outgoing years trim level.

And I did forget that I absolutely am jealous of the rear turn signals on the 2022's. Those are sweet and what should have always come on the USDM GT's.

Sorry to inadvertently on your exact car. Unintended consequences on my side from a 1AM forum post that I would have thought more through had it been a normal time of the day.

 

[cncBilly]

You're all bullies on here, I still like my 2022. Look at that rear it's still a Stinger and the only option if you want a base trim.


View attachment 57908

Looks great. I would give you two but I don’t want to infringe on recently imposed quote regulations. Cheers

 

[I am The Stig]

I like the new tail lights and that’s about it. Maybe it is something we have to get used too but I’m extremely happy I got the 2021. I love the wheels on my car. New ones are crazy looking

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

Maybe Maserati when the lights are on but like you said, 20/200 vision. Perhaps I just have really dislike the dodge lights

On more than one occasion I have been asked if my Stinger was a Maserati.

 

[Vonrichthofen]

I’ve also been asked if my 2021 is a Maserati. It’s a GT line, but has all wheel drive and the sun and sound package. Definitely an upgrade from my 2015 Optima SXL which I traded in on it. I’m also glad I got the ‘21. I like tail lights on this one a bit more than the ‘22. But no matter which year/trim level you get, they’re all really nice automobiles that are fun to drive.

 

[Nasscar]

It'd only be ugly if it was red.

Hey!!!!

 

[Jake747]

the oversized exhaust tips are hilarious

Yeah they really are! If they were real I wouldn’t mind them but when you drive behind the 22 stinger you can see the actual tiny tips through them clear as day which looks cheap

 

[monusa]

This is a really good forum!!!! The love of the vehicle is bar none, very high. I too, got an up close "interview" with the 22 GT2 and although I do kind of agree on the exhaust tips, the grey model at my local dealership was amazing!!! got in it while my 2.0 was getting serviced. Screen and "frameless" mirror are PIMP!!!!

..........BUT,if you really want to hear MAJOR WHINING about a new model, just check out one of the new Supra forums!!!! I spend some time on there because It is going to come down to a coin flip as to whether to upgrade to a new Stinger GT or Supra.....the Bosch ECU's on the '21 Supra's are locked down from the manufacturer and can't be cracked. They have used high level encryption on the chip so right now, a lot of Supra owners are quite upset that they can't tune their cars and are trying out the JB4 world....it is "hilarious" the number of folks over there that have NO clue as to how it functions/installs, etc. Terry must be loving it LOL.....anyone that plunks down their hard earned cash (lots of it) for one of those and still complains THAT much, shouldn't have purchased the car.....the minor things on this forum are nothing.

 

[Random386]

The wheels, tail lights, and exhaust tips are all much worse looking. There was no need or improvement; KIA nailed it with the Stinger on the first try.

Tail lights is a must imo. It reminds me of the Audi ones. I don't like the 2022 bar light. However I am looking into putting a Led bar in the top of my rear hatch. Simply for more visibility Hey I'm stopping or such.

 

[app_master]

I followed a 2022 and the taillights are nice but non longer have the depth of the old design. Literally. PS.. and all stingers are beautiful man or we wouldn't be here.

 

[Transmetal]

Has it been confirmed if the US 2022 model has the clear led sequential turn signals like the Korean version? Cuz those I actually like (at least the sequential part) or did they dumb them down like the US spec 2018-2021 that don't get the better looking ones like the Korean or Euro cars?

 

[5tinger]

There's not much difference other than the rims, taillights and exhaust tips.

The facelift is looks more tacky IMO.
The worst part are those ugly round exhaust tips. The oval shape is so much sleeker and suits the wide track of the car.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Has it been confirmed if the US 2022 model has the clear led sequential turn signals like the Korean version? Cuz those I actually like (at least the sequential part) or did they dumb them down like the US spec 2018-2021 that don't get the better looking ones like the Korean or Euro cars?

I've seen video of the US variant; no sequential turn signals, just a single on/off of the whole cluster.

 

[Sushi]

I still can't get over those new big ugly exhaust tips and the redesign light bar for tail lights. I still hope they sell well so we can get a 2nd gen and hopefully they'll improve the design. Some of the changes in the interior I'm not a fan of either.

 

[Transmetal]

I still can't get over those new big ugly exhaust tips and the redesign light bar for tail lights. I still hope they sell well so we can get a 2nd gen and hopefully they'll improve the design. Some of the changes in the interior I'm not a fan of either.

I don't know that any year Stinger has sold "well" have they? At least not as well as Kia had hoped I'm sure. Although, I agree with you I'd be nice to have another new Stinger available still come 2025 or later.

 

[Sushi]

I don't know that any year Stinger has sold "well" have they? At least not as well as Kia had hoped I'm sure. Although, I agree with you I'd be nice to have another new Stinger available still come 2025 or later.

The 2018 and 2019 sold well for a halo car in Canada. Sales declined from 2020 onwards but we did have the pandemic happen so that might have contributed.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I don't know that any year Stinger has sold "well" have they? At least not as well as Kia had hoped I'm sure.

The rumor I heard (never saw it in print from a Kia source) is that Kia was hoping to sell 15K Stingers in the US in 2018. They reached that goal. Down from there can't be making them happy, though.