Motor Trend Ignition Review - Stinger GT RWD

[BahamaTodd]

https://www.motortrendondemand.com/...gt-rear-wheel-drive-korean-style-/0_7o87wm24/

The Motor Trend Ignition review is up for the Stinger GT RWD on their On Demand service. I assume they still offer a free trial. If not, the video will be on youtube in about a month.

It was more of a quick introduction review, so not too much detail on the interior.

It has quick acceleration and pretty good brakes that didn't fade on track. However at 4005 lbs and with a soft suspension setup for a comfortable highway cruising, its not that great on the track.

0-60: 4.8 sec
Braking 60-0: 113 feet

 

[Bamm1]

Wow , 2 tons for the RWD model........that is BMW 540i territory (which is a class size above).

I didn't expect a track monster, wasn't really part of the Stinger's design goals. But still kinda sad its slower than a Mk7 GTI around the same track.

 

[STINGER]

Slower than a 2.0T Camaro RS, that is hard to swallow.

 

[seanmccubb]

Wow that was a great video, I even signed up for their trial to watch it! I can't wait for more reviews to come.

 

[Jenny Wang]

Wow , 2 tons for the RWD model........that is BMW 540i territory (which is a class size above).

I didn't expect a track monster, wasn't really part of the Stinger's design goals. But still kinda sad its slower than a Mk7 GTI around the same track.

Is the Stinger more the size of a 3 Series BMW or 5 Series BMW?

Slower than a 2.0T Camaro RS, that is hard to swallow.

Sure but what else does the Camaro have to offer?

 

[BahamaTodd]

The Stinger is closer in size to the 5 series which is 3 inches longer, but a RWD 540i is still 150 lbs lighter.

The Camaro is not going to be able to offer much more since its a sports coupe, but it does start a $25k.

 

[Bamm1]

Is the Stinger more the size of a 3 Series BMW or 5 Series BMW?

Kia designed it to be a "tweener". Bigger than the 3-series but smaller than the 5-series...........and I guess heavier than both .

Sure but what else does the Camaro have to offer?

No one is likely cross shopping a Stinger and a Camaro.....but it offers the fuel economy of the 2.0T Stinger while being faster around a track than the 3.3T Stinger. Acceleration will likely only be about a half second slower for the Camaro as well. Weight is a real killer.

 

[Mike_10]

I found this browsing around, this car can keep up..

http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow-springs

 

[davebo]

Yeesh, that's pretty depressing but I guess the fact that I'll never take it to the track should ease my mind, and that I don't see any RWD sedans on that list with it. I'm just so used to being able to whip around 90 degree turns at speed and I'm hoping all this weight doesn't ruin my fun.

 

[davebo]

I found this browsing around, this car can keep up..

http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow-springs

That's a completely different track layout than what they tested. This is the "Streets of Willow" layout:
http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/willow-springs-streets-of-willow

 

[Jenny Wang]

The Stinger is closer in size to the 5 series which is 3 inches longer, but a RWD 540i is still 150 lbs lighter.

The Camaro is not going to be able to offer much more since its a sports coupe, but it does start a $25k.

That's what I thought. Thank you. It threw me off when Bamm said the 5 Series was size class above the Stinger.

 

[dkmatter]

When CarandDriver tested a 540i RWD it weighed 4071lbs

http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...ng-performance-data-and-complete-specs-page-7

 

[Bamm1]

That's what I thought. Thank you. It threw me off when Bamm said the 5 Series was size class above the Stinger.

The Stinger is 7 inches longer than the 3 series and it is 5 inches shorter than the 5 series (the 5'er is also about half an inch wider and 3 inches taller). Again, pretty much in the middle. So I still stand by "the 5 series is a class size above". The Stinger is about the same size as the Acura TLX (also big for the class it competes in). The AWD TLX also weighs 240+ lbs. less than the RWD Stinger.

When CarandDriver tested a 540i RWD it weighed 4071lbs

The dimensionally bigger car still only weighs 66 lbs. more. Weighing "about the same" as a larger car is still not good news.

The boat-like Buick LaCrosse is 8 inches longer than the Stinger GT, well into the "full size" category and it weighs 275 lbs less than the Stinger.

 

[dkmatter]

I had a rental lacrosse, it sucked, lighter doesn't fix everything, or in the lacrosse case, anything. The Stinger is .1 inch wider than the 540 and 190.2 vs the BMWs 194.6 , park them next to each other and most people would be hard pressed to notice much size difference. An auto engineer told me that taking weight out of a high performance car while maintaining all the handling, acceleration, braking and luxury that consumers want is very expensive. When talking curb weights of performance cars, people need to keep in mind the price points of the cars they are comparing.

 

[Bamm1]

I had a rental lacrosse, it sucked, lighter doesn't fix everything, or in the lacrosse case, anything. The Stinger is .1 inch wider than the 540 and 190.2 vs the BMWs 194.6 , park them next to each other and most people would be hard pressed to notice much size difference. An auto engineer told me that taking weight out of a high performance car while maintaining all the handling, acceleration, braking and luxury that consumers want is very expensive. When talking curb weights of performance cars, people need to keep in mind the price points of the cars they are comparing.

I will tackle the last item first. Kia gave me a list of cars to compare the Stinger to. They have a press release (and now a website) where they are asking me to measure the Stinger against the Audi A4, Infiniti Q50, Lexus IS, BMW 4 Gran Coupe, Lexus GS, Mercedes CLS, etc. I guess am allowed to compare rear tire width and cost but not weight or fuel economy?

I drove a 2017 Buick LaCrosse AWD and I thought GM did a nice job with it. Not the type of car I would own but I wouldn't say it "sucked" for its intended purpose (GM didn't ask me to compare it to a 3 series ). You could tell weight savings was a key attribute they were targeting.

Cadillac tried this "bigger for less money" idea in 2008 when it released the CTS. It was about same size as the 5 series but cost was in the 3 series range. The existence of the ATS illustrates how that ended up playing out.

A lot of manufactures are switching to advanced high strength steel that is much thinner and lighter. It also provides higher rigidity for your "sporty" attributes but yes it is much more expensive. If only an auto manufacturer could somehow have their own steel company and then they could give us almost the same weight/performance/fuel economy for less money.......

Cost is going to be very big (no pun intended) factor here. Kia is not in any way, shape or form a luxury brand. If the "loaded" Stinger GT does not come in "well" under a base 440i GC, etc. we might be heading down the Cadenza or K900 road again. The prices being released for Australia, UK, etc. are not giving me confidence the US price will end up in a "set up for success" type of situation.

 

[BahamaTodd]

Cadillac tried this "bigger for less money" idea in 2008 when it released the CTS. It was about same size as the 5 series but cost was in the 3 series range. The existence of the ATS illustrates how that ended up playing out.

Well the current downturn in sedan sales influenced their decision for the upcoming CT5 which will once again follow the first and second gen CTS formula. The CT5 will replace the ATS and CTS. There is also a smaller CT3 on the way to compete with the A3, and 1 and 2 series.

 

[davebo]

Well the current downturn in sedan sales influenced their decision for the upcoming CT5 which will once again follow the first and second gen CTS formula. The CT5 will replace the ATS and CTS. There is also a smaller CT3 on the way to compete with the A3, and 1 and 2 series.

Sidenote, but screw Johan de Nysschen and his boring naming schemes. I like cars to have actual names and personalities, not alphanumeric id tags.

 

[BahamaTodd]

Sidenote, but screw Johan de Nysschen and his boring naming schemes. I like cars to have actual names and personalities, not alphanumeric id tags.

Well you are not the average luxury car buyer. Those buyers are buying into the brand - not individual models. All they want to know is how each vehicle fits in the brand hierarchy. This is also the reason Audi just introduced their new powertrain naming scheme based on power output. Doesn't matter if its normally aspirated or boosted, hybrid or electric. The higher the number, the more powerful it is.

 

[davebo]

Yeah I just saw Audi's naming scheme which seems pretty ridiculous and not very forward-thinking considering the gaps they left in the power ranges they described each number representing, so they're just going to end up having to adjust when each number signifies as engine power increases.

 

[Noddy347]

The US car was always going to be on the softer side as far as ride comfort and it wasn't really designed to cut laps of the Nurburgring but was a great marketing excercise nonetheless.

I'm glad the Australian version of the GtV6 has had a full revision of the factory suspension setup that Korea has. Kia was advised that the soft setup wouldn't be appropriate for our mix of roads. Reading our first Australian media review in Wheels magazine today it explains the extensive suspension tuning that was carried out on the adaptive suspension with different valving, spring rates and sway bars. The new bi-model exhaust sounds ok in the accompanying video posted. Better than the original exhaust anyway. Btw the gtv6 ran a 13.2@176kph and a 5.1 0-100kph.