3.3TT A little unsure about Steering

[Beestinger]

Test drove a GT 3 weeks ago here in Aus.
Liked everything the Stinger brings. Only thing stopping me from getting one is the feel of the steering. Just didn't give me confidence when driving straight at cruising speeds. Too much of a "dead" feel.
But when driving a little more "sportily" and cornering, it tightens up nicely and becomes extremely precise.

What does everyone else think? Is it just me.?
More importantly, can anything be done with it aftermarket. I am kind of new to aftermarket stuff TBH, so pardon me if it is a NEWB question.

The other thing dealer guy mentioned was that unofficially, they have been informed of a possible option to get special badges instead of "KIA". Unsure whether he was referring to "E"
Thanks
B

 

[Kia Stinger]

Hi, @Beestinger. Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up. As for the badges, I'm pretty sure dealers will offer them as options like they did here with the winged Genesis badges. At least until Hyundai told them to stop.

For the steering - I'm not sure what can be done aftermarket-wise. I'll let somebody else chime in on that. So it's not feeling too good while driving straight but turning is good. Does the car tend to steer itself too easily because of imperfections in the road?

 

[Jumpy]

How can the steering be bad in a straight line? Doesn't that mean you're not steering?

 

[JAW_Stinger]

Now have I driven the car no, but you only have 2 rubber joints for each corner. My Gm has test driven both the V6 and 4 cyl turbo and he says it tracks dead straight. He could even take the his hands off the wheel and just floor it, and he was on an actual track. He also said that the 4 cyl turbo preformed better in the slalom due to the engine being farther back in the bay. Of course the V6 smoked it in the straights.

 

[BlackGhost]

Does the car tend to steer itself too easily because of imperfections in the road?

I've had my GT for ~3weeks now, and the answer is 'yes'. If the road is uneven, off-camber etc, the front wheels can grab thru a corner and change direction awkwardly. It could easily catch an inexperienced driver out. This issue and the lack of a proper manual gearbox over-ride are my main disappointments to an otherwise awesome car.

 

[B Sharp]

I've had my GT for ~3weeks now, and the answer is 'yes'. If the road is uneven, off-camber etc, the front wheels can grab thru a corner and change direction awkwardly. It could easily catch an inexperienced driver out. This issue and the lack of a proper manual gearbox over-ride are my main disappointments to an otherwise awesome car.

Thanks for the real world info. Do you think that can possibly be fixed with software or more likely, suspension?

 

[Chris]

Thanks for the real world info. Do you think that can possibly be fixed with software or more likely, suspension?

Doubtful, a dead spot on center is part and parcel of having an electric steering system instead of a hydraulic pump.

 

[Beestinger]

I think variable steering ratio is what causes that feel in the centre. Just a thought. Happy to be corrected. May be I am not used to it.

 

[Bamm1]

Test drove a GT 3 weeks ago here in Aus.
Liked everything the Stinger brings. Only thing stopping me from getting one is the feel of the steering. Just didn't give me confidence when driving straight at cruising speeds. Too much of a "dead" feel.

When discussing the driving dynamics of a car this is refered to as "On-Center Feel".

When a car has good on-center feel, road imperfections that would cause slight deflections are mitigated by the steering wheel returning to center without much drama. This makes for very good straight-line stability. This is something you really want in a car that is a grand touring, long distance with comfort, etc. sort of vehicle. This behavior can be made even worse by the manufacturer's tuning of the "feel" of the electronic steering system. Where these "deflections" are not effectively communicated back to the driver through the steering wheel. Which can exacerbate the "surprise" when the car does something unexpected. The Q50's DAS system falls into this "hot mess" steering category.

The manufacturer can provide software updates to change this behavior. But historically this has not made a huge difference. The amount of work required to find an aftermarket solution makes it a nonstarter.

The instability in turns that BlackGhost refers to is a different phenomenon with a different root cause.

 

[Beestinger]

When discussing the driving dynamics of a car this is refered to as "On-Center Feel".

When a car has good on-center feel, road imperfections that would cause slight deflections are mitigated by the steering wheel returning to center without much drama. This makes for very good straight-line stability. This is something you really want in a car that is a grand touring, long distance with comfort, etc. sort of vehicle. This behavior can be made even worse by the manufacturer's tuning of the "feel" of the electronic steering system. Where these "deflections" are not effectively communicated back to the driver through the steering wheel. Which can exacerbate the "surprise" when the car does something unexpected. The Q50's DAS system falls into this "hot mess" steering category.

The manufacturer can provide software updates to change this behavior. But historically this has not made a huge difference. The amount of work required to find an aftermarket solution makes it a nonstarter.

The instability in turns that BlackGhost refers to is a different phenomenon with a different root cause.

Hi. Thanks for the info. So, would the Stinger GT fall into the better ones?

 

[Bamm1]

Hi. Thanks for the info. So, would the Stinger GT fall into the better ones?

I have not driven the car yet so I don't have first hand experience. There have been lots of first drive reviews but 99% of those have been with pre-production prototypes that likely had steering programming in various states of completeness. I think right now the best person to determine what it is like would be you. Even if someone in a magazine says its "great" doesn't make it so. That "dead" feeling you described certainly sounds like it is leaning towards the "not so great" camp for you.

 

[Beestinger]

I have not driven the car yet so I don't have first hand experience. There have been lots of first drive reviews but 99% of those have been with pre-production prototypes that likely had steering programming in various states of completeness. I think right now the best person to determine what it is like would be you. Even if someone in a magazine says its "great" doesn't make it so. That "dead" feeling you described certainly sounds like it is leaning towards the "not so great" camp for you.

I honestly hope not cause everything else about the Stinger is A OK for me.
Will definitely be going for another test drive next week, purely concentrating on the Steering in different driving modes for sure.

 

[BlackGhost]

I've had my GT for ~3weeks now, and the answer is 'yes'. If the road is uneven, off-camber etc, the front wheels can grab thru a corner and change direction awkwardly. It could easily catch an inexperienced driver out. This issue and the lack of a proper manual gearbox over-ride are my main disappointments to an otherwise awesome car.

Ok .... my bad.... I finally figured out the LKA (Lane Keeping Assist) was 'fighting' with me some of the time, nothing to do with the road surface. Bit odd that at least with my car it was defaulted in 'on' at delivery. Not an issue afterall, but a bit of a trap if you're not expecting it!!

 

[Tazztattoo]

Test drove a GT 3 weeks ago here in Aus.
Liked everything the Stinger brings. Only thing stopping me from getting one is the feel of the steering. Just didn't give me confidence when driving straight at cruising speeds. Too much of a "dead" feel.
But when driving a little more "sportily" and cornering, it tightens up nicely and becomes extremely precise.

What does everyone else think? Is it just me.?
More importantly, can anything be done with it aftermarket. I am kind of new to aftermarket stuff TBH, so pardon me if it is a NEWB question.

The other thing dealer guy mentioned was that unofficially, they have been informed of a possible option to get special badges instead of "KIA". Unsure whether he was referring to "E"
Thanks
B

Hey Beestinger,

looking at your WCE avatar are you in WA? We have a bunch of Aussies on a separate discussion thread and I think I'm the only Sandgroper in the mix so please join us. There has been much discussion on many subjects and examples of local guys badge changing as well here:

https://stingerforum.org/threads/kia-stinger-australia-discussions-pre-release.168/page-49#post-7337

https://stingerforum.org/threads/kia-stinger-australia-discussions-pre-release.168/page-38#post-6351

I have new front, rear and wheel badges ready for my car due next month.

Tazz