Interesting Discoveries Thread (Good or Bad)

[anomaly71]

Adaptive cruise control cannot be switched off to act as old-fashioned cruise control (unfortunately).

Also, if you turn off traction control, adaptive cruise will not activate.

You can turn off adaptive cruise control and use normal cruise control. You just have to hold down the adaptive cruise button on the steering wheel (after pressing cruise) for 3-5 seconds.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Not exactly a "discovery": but has anyone else thought it odd, and a negative, that KIA opted to call their "Gran Turismo" a "GT" only on the upper three trims? When I was first reading the promotional Stinger book, their glowing definition of "Gran Turismo" was a grabber. But when it came time to decide which Stinger I was going to buy, I found out that a Stinger "GT" was only the six cylinder; something else was just a Stinger, or Stinger Premium (which I think is a dumb name). So "Gran Turismo" (touring in comfort, style and high performance) isn't the 2.0T? Why not? And why go to lengths to sell the Gran Turismo aspects across the board, and then call the four cylinder engined versions something else? It still makes no sense to me. Plenty of four cylinder cars out there are called "GT" this or "GT" that. The Stinger is more worthy of that appellation than most. Regardless of whether it's a 2.0 or 3.3.

 

[eflyguy]

It gets better, in AUS, only the top models for each engine are called GT.

200S 2.0L T-GDI Petrol Automatic
200Si 2.0L T-GDI Petrol Automatic
GT-Line 2.0L T-GDI Petrol Automatic
330S 3.3L T-GDI Petrol Automatic
330Si 3.3L T-GDI Petrol Automatic
GT 3.3L T-GDI Petrol Automatic

 

[MerlintheMad]

Fascinating. I hadn't even considered that "trims" nomenclature might be radically different for outside the US. It'a all about US'n, don't you know.

 

[Kazz]

Well, you can buy a Mustang, or you can buy the Mustang GT. I'm not about to guess about branding, though. Not my bag! LOL

 

[StingerGT68]

Yeah, it's funny. To most Americans, "GT" usually means "the faster one" but (most) car people know it's "Grand Touring" or "Gran Turismo", meaning a powerful and comfortable car meant for long, sprited rides.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Heh! What is my "Cancel" button on the steering wheel for? I just discovered that my "OK" button is where the SCC (Smart Cruise Control) button goes. Apparently that is what activates the SCC, and "Cancel" cancels it and returns cruise to normal. So far, I've only used normal cruise control; the same way I've used it all my driving life: using my attention and judgment: not turning over distance maintenance to a damned 'puter and sensors!? So the question: what is my "Cancel" button for since evidently I do not have SCC? "Not Equipped", in other words.

 

[DaJackson]

It cancels cruise control (like hitting the brakes) just like in every other car withcruise control.

 

[MerlintheMad]

It cancels cruise control (like hitting the brakes) just like in every other car withcruise control.

Thanks. I've never had a dedicated "Cancel" button before. It is redundant when you don't have SCC. I have been tapping the brake pedal, as I've always done. Maybe I'll train myself to push the "Cancel" button instead, since it's there.

 

[Marc Collins]

Thanks. I've never had a dedicated "Cancel" button before. It is redundant when you don't have SCC. I have been tapping the brake pedal, as I've always done. Maybe I'll train myself to push the "Cancel" button instead, since it's there.

It isn't redundant...as mentioned above practically every car equipped with old-fashioned cruise control has this button. Deactivate without an annoying brake light flash to the person behind you and without lifting your foot if you are lazy

 

[Onno P]

......and offer the d@mn sunroof like an option.

We can only buy one V6 version here. It is a fully loaded one, with all options added.
Only one option I could choose. The sunroof. Since I am 2m01 i was glad to be able to opt without.

 

[eflyguy]

Not proving a point, but my 2003 F150 doesn't have cancel, and it's quite annoying because other than tapping the brake, your only option is to turn it off, which cancels the setting. That's the only vehicle I've owned that didn't have one.

 

[Marc Collins]

Not proving a point, but my 2003 F150 doesn't have cancel, and it's quite annoying because other than tapping the brake, your only option is to turn it off, which cancels the setting. That's the only vehicle I've owned that didn't have one.

I said "practically every car" because I was sure someone would come up with at least one example of a badly designed car that didn't have it. I just rented a new Ford Edge this past weekend and it made me glad I only had a few user interface horror stories to deal with in the Stinger. Terrible design on the whole.

Interestingly, it had all the cruise control buttons, but I couldn't find any indication (light or display) of whether the cruise system itself was on or off. It wouldn't work when off, but how did you know the status? And too many other bad design choices to detail here. But one good one that I hadn't seen before: with the map level of detail on "Auto" the details would change based the speed you were driving. The Stingers is only based on the type of road. A combination of both would be best.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I guess this is a "bad" discovery, but a niggling one. When I got gas last time, and went to reset the "trip" counter, I noticed that it had reset itself sometime a day or so earlier; there were less than ten miles showing and my tank had been almost empty. So my question is: why does the "Trip" counter reset itself when I don't give it "permission"? It's very random. This has happened before.

 

[robz32]

There is a setting in the cluster, which you can change, so that the trip counter does not reset every time you fill up.

 

[Ken Wu]

I guess this is a "bad" discovery, but a niggling one. When I got gas last time, and went to reset the "trip" counter, I noticed that it had reset itself sometime a day or so earlier; there were less than ten miles showing and my tank had been almost empty. So my question is: why does the "Trip" counter reset itself when I don't give it "permission"? It's very random. This has happened before.

I believe the car detects you have put in more than X liters of gas, it will reset the trip counter. But as with almost anything in this car, there's a setting for that in some menu, somewhere.

 

[MerlintheMad]

There is a setting in the cluster, which you can change, so that the trip counter does not reset every time you fill up.

Yes, I know that. But I don't mind it resetting each time I gas up. It's when it resets BEFORE I gas up, that is starting to annoy me.

 

[NYLAWBIZ]

Reset should have nothing to do with fill-ups. You can be on a long trip that requires multiple fill-ups and the you would want the mileage cumulative.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Reset should have nothing to do with fill-ups. You can be on a long trip that requires multiple fill-ups and the you would want the mileage cumulative.

Yes, and then I would set it to not reset at all, ever. But I am talking about it randomly resetting.

 

[Mach_Tuck]

Yes, and then I would set it to not reset at all, ever. But I am talking about it randomly resetting.

The "ACCUMULATED" reset is controlled in the settings or via holding the "OK" button. The "DRIVE" appears to reset after a pre-determined (unknown to me) time.