Car and Driver long term update

[NismoDPB]

Ehh. They are being purposely obtuse. Certainly the ride is not to everyone's taste and it causes some interesting moments when hard in a turn. To say that it is unanimously dubbed a boring car is just asinine and a poor attempt at going against the grain.

 

[Ty Davis]

Well be thankful that the aftermarket is not putting out products that do not cost that much and make the car much better. For example, it seems that those that do the entire Eibach kit, just springs, or sway bars state that it improves the car considerably. It seem like the whole kit can be purchased and installed pretty affordably is nice.

And I do believe the things we are commenting here are due to building this to a price point.

I have read the other long term reviews out there and they are pretty positive, especially considering the value this car presents. Don't know why Car and Driver got this burr under their saddle.

I just installed HSD Coilovers, set at stock height on my 2019 GT2.
The difference in ride and handling is breathtaking and welcome.
I’m finishing up on a couple of tweaks and break in, before I give a full review, but results have been positive so far..

I don’t think Car and Driver tried to trash the Stinger, I think they were just honest in their opinion.

 

[itguy61]

I look forward that review for sure!

 

[19GT-AWD]

"Despite an engine capable of producing shocking acceleration, the $48,400 sedan rarely managed to transform the time between work and home into anything more than a gray area for thought."

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

It means the car is so dang good, they didn't have anything serious to gripe about. lol

 

[MerlintheMad]

Ehh. They are being purposely obtuse. Certainly the ride is not to everyone's taste and it causes some interesting moments when hard in a turn. To say that it is unanimously dubbed a boring car is just asinine and a poor attempt at going against the grain.

I could have said it that well. But I didn't.

 

[Shrikecorp]

Well be thankful that the aftermarket is not putting out products that do not cost that much and make the car much better. For example, it seems that those that do the entire Eibach kit, just springs, or sway bars state that it improves the car considerably. It seem like the whole kit can be purchased and installed pretty affordably is nice.

And I do believe the things we are commenting here are due to building this to a price point.

I have read the other long term reviews out there and they are pretty positive, especially considering the value this car presents. Don't know why Car and Driver got this burr under their saddle.

Be nice to see an article covering the extent to which the aftermarket has stepped up to support the platform, and what the end result of a little bit of adding on can be. A 365 (crank) hp GT for ~40-45k is one thing. A 400+ whp beast...for minimal additional cost...is quite another.

 

[Doel]

I recently took my Stinger in for its first oil change at 2500miles.
The dealership gave me a midspec Optima for a loaner car. I hadn’t made it out of the dealership parking lot before noticing “wow, this thing has a level of rolling refinement that would be nice in the Stingers...” an impression that was repeatedly reinforced throughout the loaner period.

In the name of full disclosure, I will add that the Optima had 18’s whilst the Stinger has 19 inch wheels. But the difference I was feeling was not wheel size, it was chassis tuning and execution.

I just had a 2018 Optima rental car, more refinement than the Stinger? Are you nuts? Yes, it had a softer ride, that doesn't equal refinement. That is the ONLY thing the Optima had on my Stinger, oh yeah and that massive boot. If you want a soft ride, don't get a sports tuned car with low profile tires.

 

[Manaz]

So what pushes my buttons isn't criticism of the Stinger's chassis tuning, etc. It is this guy's assertion that "[nobody] is polarized by this car. … [it] fails to trigger any emotion."

I think the context of the comments are important. The author isn't saying "Nobody on the planet loves or hates the Stinger" - that's clearly not the case, if it were, sites like this wouldn't exist.

The author of the article is talking about the response from a group of people who drive a VERY wide variety of cars, and that compared with the breadth of cars they (as a group of motoring journos/editors) experience, the Stinger neither offends by being close to the bottom of the pile, nor excels by being near the top, in any of the important facets of the car's behaviour.

Consider it thus:

Does the Stinger have the best drivetrain that the editors have experienced? No. The worst? No. Is it good though? Absolutely - 0-100km/h in < 5 seconds isn't to be sneezed at.
Does the Stinger have the best ride and handling that the editors have experienced? No. The worst? No. Is it good though? Absolutely - for a heavy car, it is surprisingly capable (certainly when compared to some other "barges" in the same size/weight range).
Does the Stinger have the best car audio that the editors have experienced? No. The worst? No. Is it good though? Yes, it is modern, has good features (Android Auto/Apple Car Play), integrates with the reversing/360º camera setup, etc.
Does the Stinger have the best interior design and quality that the editors have experienced? No. The worst? No. Is it good though? Yes - nice leather, heated/cooled front seats, it's quite roomy inside, the quality of the switchgear is mostly good (a few "still clearly built by a car with some focus on economics" bits).
And so on.

And all this in a ~USD$48k (as they state it) car. Can you get better on any/all of those attributes for more money? Absolutely. Can you get better on any/all of those attributes for less money? Perhaps.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Can you get better on any/all of those attributes for less money? Perhaps.

"Show me."

That's the price break advantage the Stinger HAS. All of this for thousands and thousands less. I read reviews for the first time during the weekend after my test drive. Universally, the reviewers agreed that for the money the Stinger aced the competition; that if you paid the same for a BMW or Audi as a top trim Stinger you'd be getting less of everything except the badge.

No other brand was even mentioned as comparable.

 

[Doel]

The biggest problem when these automotive journalist get these cars to drive for awhile is that they aren't the ones having to purchase it. They're getting to drive all sorts of vehicles, some more expensive, some cheaper. When you consider the Stinger mixed with company like M bmws, and S/RS Audis, etc. no, I'm sure the driving experience doesn't really stand out. There is nothing really special about this car, it isn't ground breaking in anyway, it isn't meant to be.

Until you start looking at price and it's warranty, that's it's ace, something people who get to drive it around for free can't really appreciate. That's simply something they write down and slide it into the "pro" column, it doesn't affect them in any sort of emotional or visceral way, it's just data.

 

[Manaz]

"Show me."

Note I said "any" as part of that.

Yes, I said all as well, as an option - hence why I said "perhaps".

We also need to accept that many of the judgements here are subjective as well - one person's "too stiff" handling is another person's "too soft", etc. There's also the experience factor - if you've only experienced shitboxes, then the Stinger's clearly going to be a ray of sunshine in your automotive life. If you've only experienced high-end luxo-performance cars, the Stinger may feel a little under-done.

 

[Manaz]

The biggest problem when these automotive journalist get these cars to drive for awhile is that they aren't the ones having to purchase it. They're getting to drive all sorts of vehicles, some more expensive, some cheaper. When you consider the Stinger mixed with company like M bmws, and S/RS Audis, etc. no, I'm sure the driving experience doesn't really stand out. There is nothing really special about this car, it isn't ground breaking in anyway, it isn't meant to be.

Until you start looking at price and it's warranty, that's it's ace, something people who get to drive it around for free can't really appreciate. That's simply something they write down and slide it into the "pro" column, it doesn't affect them in any sort of emotional or visceral way, it's just data.

They try to deal with some of those longer-term issues (warranty and quality over time) with their "long-term" cars - but you're absolutely right. Unless they're putting down their own hard-earned cash for the cars the way we mere mortals have to, they'll never fully appreciate the benefit of a 7year warranty, and the sheer value-for-money that the Stinger brings with it.

 

[Revvdmedia]

"Show me."

That's the price break advantage the Stinger HAS. All of this for thousands and thousands less. I read reviews for the first time during the weekend after my test drive. Universally, the reviewers agreed that for the money the Stinger aced the competition; that if you paid the same for a BMW or Audi as a top trim Stinger you'd be getting less of everything except the badge.

No other brand was even mentioned as comparable.

This is even more true for us Canadians. Those in the USA [still] pay about the same amount of dollars for slightly fewer features. Considering the exchange is currently at >1.33, we are getting a smoking deal. In Canada, the car should cost nearly 70K MSRP with our dollar equalized to the USA (and I did look at how exchange is between Korea/Canada, Korea/USA). It really makes the "value" proposition of this car even greater for us. In truth, nothing comes close. Quite literally, equally featured, any premium Japanese car is no less than 10K more, and no German performance equal is less than 15K more in our currency. I have looked back a few times to wonder why I never did go and test drive the other cars I thought about - M240i X-Drive, Audi S3, etc, but a build and price quickly reminds me I'm paying 15K more for a car that I don't feel is WORTH 15K more, and is quite literally an up-trimmed version of the most base model of what they offer here.

 

[Ty Davis]

I just had a 2018 Optima rental car, more refinement than the Stinger? Are you nuts? Yes, it had a softer ride, that doesn't equal refinement. That is the ONLY thing the Optima had on my Stinger, oh yeah and that massive boot. If you want a soft ride, don't get a sports tuned car with low profile tires.

Let me explain in a bit more detail...
I found the Optima to be quite a bit more refined, in that while being feeling softer over bumps and imperfections, the body also bounced, pitched, and vibrated less over surface irregularities.
In addition, the Optima also smoothed out road grain and texture much more adeptly. This is evident in the steering, the seats, and the chassis as a whole.

A soft ride is not necessary, a composed ride is.

Roads that the Optima traversed quite serenely, would have the Stinger hopping/thumping/thudding/bouncing and sending jiggles through the chassis. The Optima actually has firmer body control than the Stinger. The Stinger suspension isn’t all that firm. The Stinger will fool the uninformed into thinking it is firm with its propensity to clearly communicate bumps and vibes into the cabin. That’s not a sports car. That’s lack of refinement. More accurately, it’s Kias tuning choices. Don’t mistake bumpy for sporty.

A sports tuned car, need not do any of these things...
Exhibit A. JAGUAR XE
Exhibit B. Cadillac CTS
Exhibit C. Plenty of other entries...

I do understand the effects of low profile tires and sports suspension.
Many cars pull it off more delicately.

And just FYI, don’t believe the marketing hype. The Stinger isn’t all that “Sport Tuned” in the suspension department. In fact, the springs are softish, the shocks too relaxed, and the roll bars diminutive.
The Stinger does benefit greatly from RWD and near 50/50 weight distribution.

Are you saying that you find the Stingers ride/handling mix to be without fault?

 

[NismoDPB]

Let me explain in a bit more detail...
I found the Optima to be quite a bit more refined, in that while being feeling softer over bumps and imperfections, the body also bounced, pitched, and vibrated less over surface irregularities.
In addition, the Optima also smoothed out road grain and texture much more adeptly. This is evident in the steering, the seats, and the chassis as a whole.

A soft ride is not necessary, a composed ride is.

Roads that the Optima traversed quite serenely, would have the Stinger hopping/thumping/thudding/bouncing and sending jiggles through the chassis. The Optima actually has firmer body control than the Stinger. The Stinger suspension isn’t all that firm. The Stinger will fool the uninformed into thinking it is firm with its propensity to clearly communicate bumps and vibes into the cabin. That’s not a sports car. That’s lack of refinement. More accurately, it’s Kias tuning choices. Don’t mistake bumpy for sporty.

A sports tuned car, need not do any of these things...
Exhibit A. JAGUAR XE
Exhibit B. Cadillac CTS
Exhibit C. Plenty of other entries...

I do understand the effects of low profile tires and sports suspension.
Many cars pull it off more delicately.

And just FYI, don’t believe the marketing hype. The Stinger isn’t all that “Sport Tuned” in the suspension department. In fact, the springs are softish, the shocks too relaxed, and the roll bars diminutive.
The Stinger does benefit greatly from RWD and near 50/50 weight distribution.

Are you saying that you find the Stingers ride/handling mix to be without fault?

I would say I dont share your characterization of the stingers ride quality as my experience has been very different. In normal driving I feel very isolated from the roads and do not get this translation of the road effects into the cabin aside from a good sized pothole. If you are not driving a truck a pothole will rattle anything though. The biggest problem with the stingers handling is it is not tuned appropriately for sporty driving in the twisties and the balance is easily upset by bumps mid corner. You can feel the back end lurch and swing the car out. The suspension lacks a sophistication for sporty handling and this is likely where they need to make up their value proposition. Luckily this is easily fixed with a nice sway bar set up. In normal driving though I think it's better than most vehicles from a ride perspective. They tried to straddle the line between comfort and sport l, but with the price point they are at, it doesnt excel at either, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad.

 

[itguy61]

I would say I dont share your characterization of the stingers ride quality as my experience has been very different. In normal driving I feel very isolated from the roads and do not get this translation of the road effects into the cabin aside from a good sized pothole. If you are not driving a truck a pothole will rattle anything though. The biggest problem with the stingers handling is it is not tuned appropriately for sporty driving in the twisties and the balance is easily upset by bumps mid corner. You can feel the back end lurch and swing the car out. The suspension lacks a sophistication for sporty handling and this is likely where they need to make up their value proposition. Luckily this is easily fixed with a nice sway bar set up. In normal driving though I think it's better than most vehicles from a ride perspective. They tried to straddle the line between comfort and sport l, but with the price point they are at, it doesnt excel at either, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad.

I agree with this, this car rides as good as he 2017 Sorento I traded in. I had a 2012 Optima SX that rode very nard and did not handle all that well. Kia has definitely upped their ride quality. I am going to add sway bar/bars this weekend so we shall see how that improves the handling.

 

[Shrikecorp]

Worth noting, perhaps, that ride quality is highly dependent on local roads. Stinger is bumpy. The BMW I had before it was bumpy. Genesis sedan, same. Common factor is the dagnasty roads. Only car I recall really ignoring the bumps was the A8...and even that registered some of the worst spots. When I see people talking about how smooth the ride is, I'm like.... where do you live? Our neighborhood is full of hills with concrete slab streets dating to the 40s... smooth just isn't going to happen. Stinger does fine, considering.

 

[Doel]

Let me explain in a bit more detail...
I found the Optima to be quite a bit more refined, in that while being feeling softer over bumps and imperfections, the body also bounced, pitched, and vibrated less over surface irregularities.
In addition, the Optima also smoothed out road grain and texture much more adeptly. This is evident in the steering, the seats, and the chassis as a whole.

A soft ride is not necessary, a composed ride is.

Roads that the Optima traversed quite serenely, would have the Stinger hopping/thumping/thudding/bouncing and sending jiggles through the chassis. The Optima actually has firmer body control than the Stinger. The Stinger suspension isn’t all that firm. The Stinger will fool the uninformed into thinking it is firm with its propensity to clearly communicate bumps and vibes into the cabin. That’s not a sports car. That’s lack of refinement. More accurately, it’s Kias tuning choices. Don’t mistake bumpy for sporty.

A sports tuned car, need not do any of these things...
Exhibit A. JAGUAR XE
Exhibit B. Cadillac CTS
Exhibit C. Plenty of other entries...

I do understand the effects of low profile tires and sports suspension.
Many cars pull it off more delicately.

And just FYI, don’t believe the marketing hype. The Stinger isn’t all that “Sport Tuned” in the suspension department. In fact, the springs are softish, the shocks too relaxed, and the roll bars diminutive.
The Stinger does benefit greatly from RWD and near 50/50 weight distribution.

Are you saying that you find the Stingers ride/handling mix to be without fault?

The Optima had a lot more body roll and was bouncier than the Stinger because of the soft suspension. Everything else you mentioned, hopping, thumping, vibration, etc. is all due to the tires. If you swapped in the Optima tires, all that would mostly disappear. Hell, even this warmer weather has significantly reduced a lot of those comfort "issues" for me. Of course I'm not saying the ride in the Stinger is perfect, far from it. I wish the comfort setting was softer without being bouncy, I wish the sport setting was stiffer, there's an issue with the back end feeling disconnected when hitting road imperfections when cornering, while the body roll isn't bad I wish it was better. Aside from that, it's pretty good considering and a hell of a lot better than the Optima I drove.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Are you saying that you find the Stingers ride/handling mix to be without fault?

Yes. The first thing I noticed on my test drive was the stiffness, yet quiet inside the cabin, and the way all four tires felt planted the instant after going over a road imperfection: the "bump" was there, but the after effects were gone, compared to anything I've driven before. I'm used to suspension wobble or bounce going over ridges or dips. The Stinger does a "thud" or bump and its over, smooth as glass after that, until the next one. I can't relate to, "... the springs are softish, the shocks too relaxed, and the roll bars diminutive." That doesn't describe what I first felt and what I still experience a year plus later.

 

[Peeso33]

There's always room for improvement. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Even Merlin's perfect Stinger, that handles without fault got a aftermarket sway bar