Car & Driver - December Issue Road Test

[B Sharp]

Attached are a few highlights from the Dec issue of C&D Stinger road test- picked up @ airport newsstand today- sorry if it is a repeat.

They got 4.4 sec to 60, RWD GT2. Also pictures of inside cover ad- I apparently don’t follow printed directions that well so it is in a couple of pieces.

 

[Kia Stinger]

0-60 in 4.4 seconds.............

The car does 12s in the quarter mile right off the showroom floor. Amazing, Kia. Good job...

 

[STINGER]

impressive, better than expected.

 

[regnitStinger]

Haven’t bought a C&D mag in years ...always read the free ones here and there but I guess they are getting my money for the Dec issue.

 

[hej]

The noise as highway speeds is what surprises me in that chart. Granted, pretty much all the performance related categories there heavily depend on the tires that the car came with from the factory.

 

[Chris]

Agree on the noise. That's a little disappointing, but not all that surprising as that's my biggest complaint I have with my optima.

 

[B Sharp]

Agree on the noise. That's a little disappointing, but not all that surprising as that's my biggest complaint I have with my optima.

There’s a chance they forgot to turn off the piped in exhaust noise, but for a GT you would hope for a little better than tested.

 

[Kia Stinger]

St

Agree on the noise. That's a little disappointing, but not all that surprising as that's my biggest complaint I have with my optima.

What year is your Optima? I recently read that the Optima is very quiet inside and that surprised me. Maybe it's the 2017 I read about. I forget.

I'm all TOO surprised that the Stinger makes some noise. I expect the G70 to be the one that focuses on being quiet...

 

[Chris]

I have a 2013 optima sx. Definitely not quiet.

 

[STINGER]

I have been driving my car for the last couple of days, the road noise is there but nothing to worry about. What came as a surprise is the stiffness, it is definitely stiffer than I expected but still acceptable. However our cars probably came with the Korean spec springs etc, not sure how the US will be.

 

[FluffyBottoms]

Uploading the same stats from the C&D article, which clearly stated that it tested a pre-production car.

One note about the spider chart is that the A5 Sportback pricing is wrong. It starts around $42k, the S5 starts in the mid $50k. Just need to be fair when comparing against others.

Also, Kia has an ad in the magazine, and it shows the updated infotainment screen that's been rumoured in these forums, and possibly the wireless charging area for the phone. Hope it's for real.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Imagine this car with stickier tires, exhaust, intake, intercooler, tune, and maybe even some light wheels...

 

[Brian Keenan]

What I'm wondering is why more people aren't talking about this car being so much faster than we anticipated a few months ago! I'm really surprised at what we're getting here for the money. Even if the price is alittle higher than we were hoping for. The Stinger is turning out to be such a good performer.

 

[ScottyDangles]

Here is the Car and Driver PDF with the article...

(broken link removed)

 

[Kia Stinger]

Here is the Car and Driver PDF with the article...

(broken link removed)

Hey. That link isn't working for me...

 

[ScottyDangles]

Hey. That link isn't working for me...

I just tried it again and it came up just fine.

 

[FluffyBottoms]

Nyet. This is what I get when I click the link.

 

[Chris]

Link is invalid for me too. Also unless you are linking to the original article I would think it is a copyright violation, and probably shouldn't be posted anyway.

 

[ScottyDangles]

Sorry guys, thought the link would work. Oddly enough it still works when I try to access it. Its essentially a full PDF of C&Ds December 2017 issue. I just googled it and came across it this morning.

It's available at magazinelib.com. The PDF file is available for download.

The article was mostly positive. Essentially the car is bloody quick, handles like a it should unless you take it to the edge. Interior is great but not as nice as the Germans, which in my opinion should not be a surprise to anyone. Either way this car is a beast!

 

[STINGER]

What I'm wondering is why more people aren't talking about this car being so much faster than we anticipated a few months ago! I'm really surprised at what we're getting here for the money. Even if the price is alittle higher than we were hoping for. The Stinger is turning out to be such a good performer.

You are right, what came as a surprise to me is that they were able to achieve 4.4sec without launch control.

The other thing to note is that it will hold gears without upshifting automatically if the traction is completely off, however the car they were testing was not a production vehicle. I will probably need another 3-4 days to complete the break-in on my car and will let you guys know if it will hold gear even on redline.