Edmunds 2018 Kia Stinger GT: Monthly Update for June

[YEH]

Monthly Update for June 2018 - 2018 Kia Stinger

Some good stuff in this report.

We set a new mileage record at 29.1 mpg and a new range record at 395.8 miles on a single tank (at 28 mpg). All these frugal miles bumped our lifetime average up quite a bit, from 17.8 mpg to 21 mpg — right in line with the car's EPA-estimated combined mileage.

Not bad for having 2 adults and loaded w/ gear for a trip.

 

[Rufus]

Thanks for posting!

 

[Huda]

When my stinger comes, we will travel from Riyadh to Dubai and the distance takes about 10 hours. I think with stinger will take hour because I am eager to experience it with travel. play music with harman kardon speaker,drive fast,drink coffee,see what the (Grand Tours)do...etc. Uh can’t wait I’m very excited.

 

[Waynerm002]

Good review of the car and a long trip to get a good feel of it.

 

[mldavis2]

When my stinger comes, we will travel from Riyadh to Dubai and the distance takes about 10 hours. I think with stinger will take hour because I am eager to experience it with travel. play music with harman kardon speaker,drive fast,drink coffee,see what the (Grand Tours)do...etc. Uh can’t wait I’m very excited.

Break it in properly, don't hammer it out of the dealership.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Monthly Update for June 2018 - 2018 Kia Stinger

Some good stuff in this report.



Not bad for having 2 adults and loaded w/ gear for a trip.

I tried to sign up, sign in and comment. Nothing doing. Stupid, user UNfriendly setup. So, no Stinger recommendation from me on Edmunds. I wasted over half an hour of my life trying.

Interesting shifting into "D" issue that GT2 he was using had. Hmm.

 

[NoVAGT2]

Thanks for posting this!

One thing that caught my eye was:

"Every once in a while, the Stinger would just outright drop the Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connection. Switching cables and phones didn't make a difference; the problem still occurred at random intervals."

On a recent road trip, my car lost its (hardwired) CarPlay connection and I had to unplug and re-plug the Lightning connector to get CarPlay running again (I was playing music on the phone). This occurred about 90 minutes into the trip. CarPlay worked fine for the remaining 90 minutes. this is the only time it has happened.

I'm no audiophile, but I don't agree with the reviewer's complaints about the sound system's bass being over boosted (when I picked up my car from the dealer, the bass setting was set all the way up!).

Thanks again.

Cheers

 

[MerlintheMad]

Thanks for posting this!

One thing that caught my eye was:

"Every once in a while, the Stinger would just outright drop the Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connection. Switching cables and phones didn't make a difference; the problem still occurred at random intervals."

On a recent road trip, my car lost its (hardwired) CarPlay connection and I had to unplug and re-plug the Lightning connector to get CarPlay running again (I was playing music on the phone). This occurred about 90 minutes into the trip. CarPlay worked fine for the remaining 90 minutes. this is the only time it has happened.

I'm no audiophile, but I don't agree with the reviewer's complaints about the sound system's bass being over boosted (when I picked up my car from the dealer, the bass setting was set all the way up!).

Thanks again.

Cheers

My bass was set to +10 from the dealer too. And after a couple of weeks I set it to +4. Currently I have all three tone ranges set at +3, and the surround on "on stage" (nice, dynamic split of the sound, which seems to work best to distinguish with the noise of the car/road, the variations in background noise, etc.).

 

[BlaydeX15]

I tried to sign up, sign in and comment. Nothing doing. Stupid, user UNfriendly setup. So, no Stinger recommendation from me on Edmunds. I wasted over half an hour of my life trying.

Interesting shifting into "D" issue that GT2 he was using had. Hmm.

Yeah, there's a thread about it here, seems to be common. Gear shift problem

Sounds like if you let go of the shifter, it can rebound back hard enough to shift into a different gear. It's also kinda touchy, and doesn't let you shift into drive quickly, you've gotta hold it there a bit before letting go. Never touched the GT2 shifter though, so I'm not sure how it works, just repeating the concerns in that thread.

 

[mldavis2]

Never touched the GT2 shifter though, so I'm not sure how it works, just repeating the concerns in that thread.

GT2 shifter uses an electric solenoid.

 

[Waynerm002]

Back when I had a 2010 535 with this electronic shifter, it didn’t like the fast shifting into drive. It’s a new thing those with this shifter will have to get used to.

 

[YEH]

When my stinger comes, we will travel from Riyadh to Dubai and the distance takes about 10 hours. I think with stinger will take hour because I am eager to experience it with travel. play music with harman kardon speaker,drive fast,drink coffee,see what the (Grand Tours)do...etc. Uh can’t wait I’m very excited.

Sounds great Huda!

Don't fight too much w/ hubby over who gets to be behind the wheel. lol



Similar to the Edmunds' long-term update, Autotrader also took their long-term Stinger on a road-trip.

Autotrader - page unavailable


Some highlights...

Hot Dang
Atlanta has earned a reputation for being hot and humid, so I expected simply more of the same from Charleston. The heat and humidity we experienced, however, were on a different level completely. The mugginess in the air made it feel thick, almost viscous, and practically inescapable.It was as if a hot towel had been placed over the entire city, making even breathing feel like a chore. With the angry July sun virtually cooking all of Charleston, the Stinger seemed to be one place where we could beat the heat. The ventilated seats came in handy on more than one occasion, making sitting on a slightly baked leather seat with sunburnt legs at least bearable. The air conditioning worked phenomenally well, too, keeping us nice and cool despite the Hades-like conditions outside.

Good thing that this confirms the other reports about the strong A/C (good for our friends in Arabia!).

Respectable Range and MPG
I've previously mentioned how much we appreciate the power of the 2018 Kia Stinger, and the fact that driving in Eco mode is actually tolerable compared to competitors. That being said, the vast majority of the trip was made while in Eco mode to save as much fuel as possible. We were able to make each leg of the journey to and from Charleston on one tank of gas, which is fairly respectable given the 300+ miles between both cities.

The Stinger also returned decent gas mileage, averaging 25.3 miles per gallon for the trip overall, and 26.3 mpg on the way home alone. Take into account highway speeds of around 70 mph and air conditioning cranked up to 11, and the Stinger's fuel economy begins to seem even more impressive.