Finally Arrived

[scharn]

Was a real PITA to find this car... had to have it shipped from Auburn Alabama to Santa Monica California. They just didn't send a whole lot of Ceramic Silver gt2 rwd to CA. It was worth it though. Driver would not stop about how much he loved the color, he showed me how he put the car cover on it "and i only put this on cars I like" he had a 1957 Bel Air and that was uncovered haha.

 

[jaccfrost]

Looks just like mine!!
Welcome to the club!!

 

[Kia Stinger]

Was a real PITA to find this car... had to have it shipped from Auburn Alabama to Santa Monica California. They just didn't send a whole lot of Ceramic Silver gt2 rwd to CA. It was worth it though. Driver would not stop about how much he loved the color, he showed me how he put the car cover on it "and i only put this on cars I like" he had a 1957 Bel Air and that was uncovered haha.

Congratulations! Did you go out driving all night?

 

[scharn]

Congratulations! Did you go out driving all night?

Put a few miles just around town, but parked it for the night. I'll drive it to work tomorrow which will be better test for it.

Quick observations.
I'm not exactly sure how people are scuffing the side bolsters getting in and out. My ass goes into the seat (almost falling in) and then I twist around.

It actually has a lot better turning radius than I expected, pretty nimble in parking lots for such a large car.

Compared to my golf R it has a lot more torque at a lot lower RPM, i got so used to having to get on the R to get it to really move. At the same time because it had such little power at those ranges it was very tame, where this feels like it has more get up and go quicker.

question:
I see from the manual it suggest fuel additives... what are people going with?

 

[jaccfrost]

Put a few miles just around town, but parked it for the night. I'll drive it to work tomorrow which will be better test for it.

Quick observations.
I'm not exactly sure how people are scuffing the side bolsters getting in and out. My ass goes into the seat (almost falling in) and then I twist around.

It actually has a lot better turning radius than I expected, pretty nimble in parking lots for such a large car.

Compared to my golf R it has a lot more torque at a lot lower RPM, i got so used to having to get on the R to get it to really move. At the same time because it had such little power at those ranges it was very tame, where this feels like it has more get up and go quicker.

question:
I see from the manual it suggest fuel additives... what are people going with?

I don’t use fuel additives I run 91 octane exclusively

 

[mldavis2]

I think the additives are recommended IF you aren't able to use "top tier" gasolines. There is a list of approved fuel sources at "toptiergas.com" which includes virtually all major brands but not many of the stations like "Kum and Go" and "Casey's" in the U.S.

 

[nhsjpeterson]

How much did it cost you to have the car shipped that far?

 

[bumble bee]

Welcome! Man, I love that color. Enjoy that ride.

 

[scharn]

How much did it cost you to have the car shipped that far?

$1700 for enclosed shipping. What actually was a pain was getting a truck to come get it, that industry is going through an interesting period right now... took 2 weeks to get picked up. I thought dealing with the dealer was going to be the most difficult part, nope dealing with those people by far was.

 

[Socalstinga]

Once i decided on the Stinger I was dead set on the ceramic silver, but couldn't find a GT1 RWD anywhere in socal. it was either the 4 banger, GT, or GT2 AWD (which is odd they would even have a bunch of AWD in Socal, but maybe the thinking was that it would help Audi AWD people to cross shop?) Next favorite color for me was the Panthera Metal which I eventually settled on.

I agree, very easy turns in parking lots.

 

[scharn]

Once i decided on the Stinger I was dead set on the ceramic silver, but couldn't find a GT1 RWD anywhere in socal. it was either the 4 banger, GT, or GT2 AWD (which is odd they would even have a bunch of AWD in Socal, but maybe the thinking was that it would help Audi AWD people to cross shop?) Next favorite color for me was the Panthera Metal which I eventually settled on.

I agree, very easy turns in parking lots.

So I ended up speaking to a kia rep because i found as you found that GT2 AWD in that color was fairly available in SoCal. Since it rains for 3.5mins a year here I asked why AWD... apparently it sells here. Apparently because of CA's diverse climate and regions AWD is desired. He also said part of it was just the early shipment allocation of cars sent that configuration more to the south, Texas, Alabama, etc.

 

[Weareblondi]

welcome to the forum. congratulations on your stinger. great color. what did it replace?

 

[scharn]

welcome to the forum. congratulations on your stinger. great color. what did it replace?

2016 VW Golf R. I've also got 2005 Acura TL that I had been using as my daily as i'm unsure of what i'm going to do with it.

 

[SEA Stinger]

So I ended up speaking to a kia rep because i found as you found that GT2 AWD in that color was fairly available in SoCal. Since it rains for 3.5mins a year here I asked why AWD... apparently it sells here. Apparently because of CA's diverse climate and regions AWD is desired. He also said part of it was just the early shipment allocation of cars sent that configuration more to the south, Texas, Alabama, etc.

There are a bunch of ski areas within a five-hour drive from downtown LA. AWD is useful for folks from SoCal who ride.

Chloe Kim, who won Gold in the Women's Halfpipe at the 2018 Olympics, is from Torrance, which is actually south of LA.

Maybe KIA should sponsor Kim, and shoot some commercials of her and her dad driving a Stinger up to Mammoth Mountain! (Nah, the marketing geniuses at KIA USA would never get that.)

 

[Weareblondi]

2016 VW Golf R. I've also got 2005 Acura TL that I had been using as my daily as i'm unsure of what i'm going to do with it.

Funny, I've got an 02 tls that I use as a daily driver.

 

[Rufus]

Funny, I've got an 02 tls that I use as a daily driver.

That gen and the 04-07 TLs were the best mainstream Acuras ever made, imho. Honda's ever-increasing moves to premium/entry-lux has pretty much made Acura irrelevant at this point.