Kia Stinger first impressions (Test drive)

[ShreddedVirgin]

Hi everyone,

I took a black Stinger GT for a test drive today, this was also my first time seeing the vehicle up close in person. I am Australian so the GT is the top spec here which is equiv to the US GTII spec I believe.

Before seeing the car in person I like many others have been following this car with interest for some time. My first impression of the vehicles looks/styling were not great if I'm honest. I did not like the side profile view of the vehicle at all with an impression that it looked like "2 different cars stuck together". This might seem odd to some people but this is just the way I felt about it. Due to this I actually wrote the car off from my potential buy list until last week when I drove past a dealership that's had one sitting out the front, I only got a quick glance of it and I thought "hmmm that actually looks ok".

So I rang my local dealer and booked in a test drive. Now seeing the car up close for the first time I was actually very impressed with the styling and my issue mentioned above did not seem that prevalent in the flesh to the point that I actually liked how it looked overall. The front end is aggressive looking which I love even though the styling is "very kia". The side air vents on the front fendor seems to be a glossed chrome look which I wasn't a huge fan of, but is something easily fixed after market (Id prob go with matt black). The back end looks great, and I don't mind the over styling of the taillights. If im honest, the big KIA badges on the front and rear are a little jarring to look at, I don't consider myself a badge snob but I cant figure out if I genuinely dislike the KIA badge logo or maybe the idea of a KIA sports sedan is still very foreign to me?? I'm not sure. I know for certain that If I owned the car the badges would be off within 24 hours of taking delivery.

The interior was absolutely gorgeous, with the brushed chrome finishes on the black interior. The seating position feels LOW (however jumping out of a FG falcon that sits notoriously maybe I'm just not used to it.) which was a good thing as it gave a real sporty feel and the electric seating offered enough options to make myself comfortable easily. When I first looked out over the bonnet I got the same feeling from when I sat in a Mustang GT with the low seating position looking out over a long sweeping hood, it was really nice. One of the biggest drawbacks of the interior for me was definitely the centre infotainment systems styling and position. It looks like they just slapped a Ipad on the dash and I know its a personal preference but I HATE the way it looks like an after thought, but is something I guess I could learn to live with. Despite that it was high res and pretty to look at, however it is a touch screen and if you are a bit on the shorter side I could see people not enjoying the lean forward to navigate it.

Ok so the drive, I banged it into sport mode straight off the bat offcourse . The engine felt torquey down low when driving around which was a nice surprise. The steering wheel felt very good in my hands, seemed a little on the thinner side which I personally prefer. The electric steering felt light, but not too light with decent feedback however I was not pushing this car too hard around corners etc as it was a public road. The cornering did feel very good though and handled very "flat" by which I mean the body roll was minimal and the car feels VERY planted. I stopped and gave the launch control a crack, it revs up to around 2k rpm. Even with the launch control activated once the foot comes off the break and it launches there still feels like there is a small delay before she really gets up and boogies. Once going though it gets up to speed deceptively fast, the car doesn't feel as fast as it is...I think this is because the car does it so effortlessly and feels so smooth. By comparison when I launch my turbo'd falcon (which is around the same hp) it is no way near as well mannered and feels angry and aggressive when driven like that but by comparison the stinger feels just as refined in a straight line whether you are flooring it or not. The sound the Stinger makes is nothing special, but you cant expect too much from a standard V6 I guess. The sound is definitely not "bad" and I think most buyers will be happy with it especially if they can get passed the fact that half of the cabin noise is coming from a speaker. The transmission felt nice and smooth and in sport mode was pretty smart about up/down shifting automatically when needed. I didn't get a chance to play around with the paddle shifters unfortunately.

I was tossing up between a used b8.5 s4 / SSV redline (chevy SS) / Golf R / audi s3 and the Stinger. At this stage I will be likely be making an Order on a White GT Stinger some time in the next month or two once my current vehicle sells.

Anyways that's all I can think of right now, anyone else want to share their first impressions?

 

[Kia Stinger]

Welcome aboard, @ShreddedVirgin! Thank you for signing up! And thank you very much for your test drive review! I'm glad to hear the Stinger is growing on you and after your test drive, you're pretty much convinced. Yes, the Stinger doesn't feel as aggressive as it is but that's because it's favoring a luxury-type feel. The same goes for the exhaust tone. Kia wants this car to favor on the side of luxury and not be too aggressive feeling OR sounding. But you can always update the exhaust if you want more growl. It looks like the Stinger went up against some pretty nice cars on your list. It's very impressive how Kia has brought us a car that competes so closely with high performance "enthusiast" cars...

 

[Lsju]

Hi everyone,

I took a black Stinger GT for a test drive today, this was also my first time seeing the vehicle up close in person. I am Australian so the GT is the top spec here which is equiv to the US GTII spec I believe.

Before seeing the car in person I like many others have been following this car with interest for some time. My first impression of the vehicles looks/styling were not great if I'm honest. I did not like the side profile view of the vehicle at all with an impression that it looked like "2 different cars stuck together". This might seem odd to some people but this is just the way I felt about it. Due to this I actually wrote the car off from my potential buy list until last week when I drove past a dealership that's had one sitting out the front, I only got a quick glance of it and I thought "hmmm that actually looks ok".

So I rang my local dealer and booked in a test drive. Now seeing the car up close for the first time I was actually very impressed with the styling and my issue mentioned above did not seem that prevalent in the flesh to the point that I actually liked how it looked overall. The front end is aggressive looking which I love even though the styling is "very kia". The side air vents on the front fendor seems to be a glossed chrome look which I wasn't a huge fan of, but is something easily fixed after market (Id prob go with matt black). The back end looks great, and I don't mind the over styling of the taillights. If im honest, the big KIA badges on the front and rear are a little jarring to look at, I don't consider myself a badge snob but I cant figure out if I genuinely dislike the KIA badge logo or maybe the idea of a KIA sports sedan is still very foreign to me?? I'm not sure. I know for certain that If I owned the car the badges would be off within 24 hours of taking delivery.

The interior was absolutely gorgeous, with the brushed chrome finishes on the black interior. The seating position feels LOW (however jumping out of a FG falcon that sits notoriously maybe I'm just not used to it.) which was a good thing as it gave a real sporty feel and the electric seating offered enough options to make myself comfortable easily. When I first looked out over the bonnet I got the same feeling from when I sat in a Mustang GT with the low seating position looking out over a long sweeping hood, it was really nice. One of the biggest drawbacks of the interior for me was definitely the centre infotainment systems styling and position. It looks like they just slapped a Ipad on the dash and I know its a personal preference but I HATE the way it looks like an after thought, but is something I guess I could learn to live with. Despite that it was high res and pretty to look at, however it is a touch screen and if you are a bit on the shorter side I could see people not enjoying the lean forward to navigate it.

Ok so the drive, I banged it into sport mode straight off the bat offcourse . The engine felt torquey down low when driving around which was a nice surprise. The steering wheel felt very good in my hands, seemed a little on the thinner side which I personally prefer. The electric steering felt light, but not too light with decent feedback however I was not pushing this car too hard around corners etc as it was a public road. The cornering did feel very good though and handled very "flat" by which I mean the body roll was minimal and the car feels VERY planted. I stopped and gave the launch control a crack, it revs up to around 2k rpm. Even with the launch control activated once the foot comes off the break and it launches there still feels like there is a small delay before she really gets up and boogies. Once going though it gets up to speed deceptively fast, the car doesn't feel as fast as it is...I think this is because the car does it so effortlessly and feels so smooth. By comparison when I launch my turbo'd falcon (which is around the same hp) it is no way near as well mannered and feels angry and aggressive when driven like that but by comparison the stinger feels just as refined in a straight line whether you are flooring it or not. The sound the Stinger makes is nothing special, but you cant expect too much from a standard V6 I guess. The sound is definitely not "bad" and I think most buyers will be happy with it especially if they can get passed the fact that half of the cabin noise is coming from a speaker. The transmission felt nice and smooth and in sport mode was pretty smart about up/down shifting automatically when needed. I didn't get a chance to play around with the paddle shifters unfortunately.

I was tossing up between a used b8.5 s4 / SSV redline (chevy SS) / Golf R / audi s3 and the Stinger. At this stage I will be likely be making an Order on a White GT Stinger some time in the next month or two once my current vehicle sells.

Anyways that's all I can think of right now, anyone else want to share their first impressions?

Thanks for the review. I think it has been well documented that the sporty ride is nice but what about the ride over bumps or not so flat roads? We’re you able to judge the quality of the ride comfort and noise level? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Thanks for the review. I think it has been well documented that the sporty ride is nice but what about the ride over bumps or not so flat roads? We’re you able to judge the quality of the ride comfort and noise level? Any feedback would be appreciated.

These are good questions and I'd like to hear @ShreddedVirgin's personal opinion. However, in the event we don't get an update right away - here's what I've learned from other people's test drive reviews. The Stinger is very quiet inside. NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) is bearly noticeable. While the Stinger is a very good handler, it's primary mission is to deliver a comfortable ride and not jiggle over bumps or harsh services. It's more of a Grand Tourer (GT) than anything...

 

[ShreddedVirgin]

Thanks for the review. I think it has been well documented that the sporty ride is nice but what about the ride over bumps or not so flat roads? We’re you able to judge the quality of the ride comfort and noise level? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Hi mate, I only drove the car in sport mode and the roads were pretty smooth so I best not comment on how it is over harsh surfaces etc. However I can confirm that the cabin was beautifully quiet and just gave a great refined feeling.

 

[Kia Stinger]

Hi mate, I only drove the car in sport mode and the roads were pretty smooth so I best not comment on how it is over harsh surfaces etc. However I can confirm that the cabin was beautifully quiet and just gave a great refined feeling.

That's great! Just the way a true "grand touring" vehicle should be...