My biggest Stinger Problem!

[Revvdmedia]

My car has Tourette's, a lot of ticks.

It's not rude if it's a proper diagnosis. Most accurate description in my mind.

 

[Ty Davis]

My biggest issue with this car is the gross lack of body control afforded by the GT2 RWD shocks.
The ride is simply too floaty/bouncy front and rear. The amount of vertical body movement over pavement dips and irregularities is worse than what got Camry’s and Buick’s ridiculed for years (by the automotive press and enthusiasts in general).

In fact in today’s world, the Stinger is bouncier than both the Camry and Buick. You’d be hard pressed to find a current Buick or Toyota with as much float/bounce/porpoising as the Stinger has. This is really a let down, to what is otherwise a fantastic automobile.

@cncBilly
What part do you disagree with?
I ask, because I’m always interested in others Stinger experience(s).

 

[cncBilly]

@cncBilly
What part do you disagree with?
I ask, because I’m always interested in others Stinger experience(s).

Same as what @Pnbnationsbest said.

 

[Ty Davis]

Same as what @Pnbnationsbest said.

This is quite interesting...

However, note that both you and PNB have AWD variants of the Stinger.
Those have different shocks, springs, and ECS tunes than do the RWD cars.

I think we (as a Stinger community) share a belief that all of the various Stinger models ride the same.
I assumed that they were all similar, too. @MerlintheMad was the first to alert me that there are differences in tune between the different models and configurations. I was truly baffled by his assertion of the Stinger as smooth, unshakably stable, solid, and composed - because it was not what I had experienced in any of the numerous Stingers that I have driven.

Initially, I dismissed his glowing praise of the Stingers ride quality as a result of lack of exposure to truly good riding vehicles. But as time went on, I noticed a trend, the AWD owners were generally more pleased with the ride and handling characteristics than were their RWD driving counterparts.

So I started to dig a bit deeper, thanks to Merlin. That’s when I found a whole slew of suspension parts that differ between RWD and AWD models. Looking at all of the different parts, I can see how the AWD model would have its own ride quality and handling persona.

I’ve only driven 2018 and 2019 GT2 RWD Stingers. Those particular cars have piss poor shock damping.
Now knowing that there are different Stinger calibrations out there, I always preface my Stinger ride and handling rants by specifically stating I am speaking of the RWD GT2, as that’s all I’ve driven.

In any event, it’s becoming clear to me that the AWD Stingers are more stable and solid riding than the RWD cars.
Even when I switch my RWD ECS Computer to AWD settings, I do find that the car then rides a bit more smoothly on textured roads, and has noticeably better body control. However, body roll and brake dive does increase a touch on the AWD settings.

On the BMW forums there were always threads/posts detailing and comparing each suspension offering.
I think we need something like that here, because the Stinger suspensions options and behaviors are varied too.

I plan to get some seat time in an AWD GT2 and a GTS model too, and tell what the exact differences are in the real world. It would be good info for perspective buyers. Even though I don’t particularly want AWD, I would have bought an AWD car had I known the ride was so much more composed.

But as for the GT2 RWD, these cars have far too much vertical body movement both front and rear. This poor body control only gets worse with worse road conditions.

 

[MerlintheMad]

But as for the GT2 RWD, these cars have far too much vertical body movement both front and rear. This poor body control only gets worse with worse road conditions.

I'm sure that you've focused on these asserted differences more than anyone on the forum in my experience. But I think that different vehicles of the same trim behave variably. Why this would be I want to say is the programming. If Kia is sending different suspension dampening and response to different markets it must happen that there are vehicles in any market that are not typical for the trims in that market. Anyway, this may only be part of the variability. Kia may have made changes along the assembly process at different times. I know that the RWD is intended to be the more sporty version, and unacceptable vertical movement would not suit that purpose. RWD is standard over all trims and must adhere to Kia's original intent of a sporty GT; the AWD is optional and I would assume it to be less "sporty" than a RWD in all situations. Some drivers on here have owned more than one Stinger; and observed differences in feel/handling. The one I know of best is @Waynerm002 and he has described how much better his second Stinger GT2 is from his first one. He is AWD as well, iirc; so no help vis-à-vis RWD differences. But his two AWD vehicles feel differently; with the MY19 being superior in the feel/handling department.

 

[Chark]

I haven't received a speeding ticket in 20 years. I've owned my GT2 for 3.5 months and have received 4 speed camera violations lol. Never really bad...6-10 over. Luckily they don't count as moving violations against your record here but they cost me 35 bucks a pop! Should probably stop daily driving in sport mode lol. Fun car!!

Doesn't Waze alert you to speed camera locations? We don't have them around here.

 

[eflyguy]

Doesn't Waze alert you to speed camera locations? We don't have them around here.

It did for me in the UK.

 

[cncBilly]

This is quite interesting...

However, note that both you and PNB have AWD variants of the Stinger.
Those have different shocks, springs, and ECS tunes than do the RWD cars.

I think we (as a Stinger community) share a belief that all of the various Stinger models ride the same.
I assumed that they were all similar, too. @MerlintheMad was the first to alert me that there are differences in tune between the different models and configurations. I was truly baffled by his assertion of the Stinger as smooth, unshakably stable, solid, and composed - because it was not what I had experienced in any of the numerous Stingers that I have driven.

Initially, I dismissed his glowing praise of the Stingers ride quality as a result of lack of exposure to truly good riding vehicles. But as time went on, I noticed a trend, the AWD owners were generally more pleased with the ride and handling characteristics than were their RWD driving counterparts.

So I started to dig a bit deeper, thanks to Merlin. That’s when I found a whole slew of suspension parts that differ between RWD and AWD models. Looking at all of the different parts, I can see how the AWD model would have its own ride quality and handling persona.

I’ve only driven 2018 and 2019 GT2 RWD Stingers. Those particular cars have piss poor shock damping.
Now knowing that there are different Stinger calibrations out there, I always preface my Stinger ride and handling rants by specifically stating I am speaking of the RWD GT2, as that’s all I’ve driven.

In any event, it’s becoming clear to me that the AWD Stingers are more stable and solid riding than the RWD cars.
Even when I switch my RWD ECS Computer to AWD settings, I do find that the car then rides a bit more smoothly on textured roads, and has noticeably better body control. However, body roll and brake dive does increase a touch on the AWD settings.

On the BMW forums there were always threads/posts detailing and comparing each suspension offering.
I think we need something like that here, because the Stinger suspensions options and behaviors are varied too.

I plan to get some seat time in an AWD GT2 and a GTS model too, and tell what the exact differences are in the real world. It would be good info for perspective buyers. Even though I don’t particularly want AWD, I would have bought an AWD car had I known the ride was so much more composed.

But as for the GT2 RWD, these cars have far too much vertical body movement both front and rear. This poor body control only gets worse with worse road conditions.

I find your comments to be very interesting. I am now curious to drive a RWD car, unfortunately they are not offered in the CDN market. I gave mine a good go around a freeway entrance yesterday (your crapy handling comments were on my mind) by the time I got back down to freeway speed the little sporty thing that was up my ass when entering the ramp was no where in my mirrors. It grabbed the corner very nice in my opinion. However I am coming from Passat wagons.

 

[Ty Davis]

I find your comments to be very interesting. I am now curious to drive a RWD car, unfortunately they are not offered in the CDN market. I gave mine a good go around a freeway entrance yesterday (your crapy handling comments were on my mind) by the time I got back down to freeway speed the little sporty thing that was up my ass when entering the ramp was no where in my mirrors. It grabbed the corner very nice in my opinion. However I am coming from Passat wagons.

Hmmm. I wouldn’t exactly say that the Stingers handling is crappy. In fact, it has excellent grip, response, and feel when being hustled along a curvy road. My specific complaint is that body control is crappy. That is, the shocks/springs do not keep the body from moving up and down excessively. What’s more the body never moves up and down as a whole over irregularities. I can clearly feel the front bouncing, or the rear bouncing. Sometimes both the front and rear will have a bit of excess motion.
GM is a big proponent of flat ride, tuning that makes a car take irregularities as a whole by carefully tailoring the suspension calibration to have both the front and rear suspension complete their reaction to bumps and dips simultaneously. Kia knows how to do it sufficiently too, as the Optima is quite good in this regard.

On these RWD Stingers GT2, I can distinctly feel the front and rear suspensions doing their own thing in reaction to the road surface. There’s even a bit of diagonal body motion going on too, where one front corner goes down and one rear corner goes up (or vise verse). The car can also rock side to side a bit in response to road surface too. That’s why people feel the ride has improved when they add sways or springs, it takes away some of the movement (on all axis) that makes the car feel uncomposed.

I am a ride and handling fanatic. So I am more picky, and perhaps observant, than most.
Now that I think about it, I’ve seen this tuning from Hyundai/Kia before. My sister had a 2006 Tiburon SE in college. It had the Stinger GT2 RWDs same ride motions and general feel, but did not have the grip and response of the Stinger.

I make a big deal of the GT2 RWD body control (or lack thereof). But it’s really my only complaint with the entire car. I’ve seen people here repeatedly state that they felt the Stingers body rigidity may not be up to par, because of the hatchback design. I’ve had aftermarket coils on my car and can say that with them, the cars structure felt every bit as solid (if not more so) than most other cars. The structure is wonderfully stiff. But the OEM suspension tuning masks that a bit.

I think the RWD GT2 cornering behavior is great. It’s the ride in a straight line that is too bouncy/floaty over road imperfections, dips, and rises. Again, I know I’m picky, but even the Optima, Camry, Accord, Malibu, have more body control just rolling down a straight road. So Stinger certainly has room to improve.

Then again, some people don’t mind or even notice a bit of float or bounce. Its simply not on their radar.
I’m like that about body roll, it doesn’t generally bother me in any car. I guess I’m just not sensitive to that. I’m always shocked when I hear people say the Stinger has too much body roll, because I find it quite good in this area.

I am definitely gonna schedule a drive of a AWD GT2 and see what that’s like. I have yet to see one of you guys have a complaint. Only the RWD GT2 owners seem to share my sentiments. You AWD owners make me want to see what it actually feels like.

 

[cncBilly]

Hmmm. I wouldn’t exactly say that the Stingers handling is crappy. In fact, it has excellent grip, response, and feel when being hustled along a curvy road. My specific complaint is that body control is crappy. That is, the shocks/springs do not keep the body from moving up and down excessively. What’s more the body never moves up and down as a whole over irregularities. I can clearly feel the front bouncing, or the rear bouncing. Sometimes both the front and rear will have a bit of excess motion.
GM is a big proponent of flat ride, tuning that makes a car take irregularities as a whole by carefully tailoring the suspension calibration to have both the front and rear suspension complete their reaction to bumps and dips simultaneously. Kia knows how to do it sufficiently too, as the Optima is quite good in this regard.

On these RWD Stingers GT2, I can distinctly feel the front and rear suspensions doing their own thing in reaction to the road surface. There’s even a bit of diagonal body motion going on too, where one front corner goes down and one rear corner goes up (or vise verse). The car can also rock side to side a bit in response to road surface too. That’s why people feel the ride has improved when they add sways or springs, it takes away some of the movement (on all axis) that makes the car feel uncomposed.

I am a ride and handling fanatic. So I am more picky, and perhaps observant, than most.
Now that I think about it, I’ve seen this tuning from Hyundai/Kia before. My sister had a 2006 Tiburon SE in college. It had the Stinger GT2 RWDs same ride motions and general feel, but did not have the grip and response of the Stinger.

I make a big deal of the GT2 RWD body control (or lack thereof). But it’s really my only complaint with the entire car. I’ve seen people here repeatedly state that they felt the Stingers body rigidity may not be up to par, because of the hatchback design. I’ve had aftermarket coils on my car and can say that with them, the cars structure felt every bit as solid (if not more so) than most other cars. The structure is wonderfully stiff. But the OEM suspension tuning masks that a bit.

I think the RWD GT2 cornering behavior is great. It’s the ride in a straight line that is too bouncy/floaty over road imperfections, dips, and rises. Again, I know I’m picky, but even the Optima, Camry, Accord, Malibu, have more body control just rolling down a straight road. So Stinger certainly has room to improve.

Then again, some people don’t mind or even notice a bit of float or bounce. Its simply not on their radar.
I’m like that about body roll, it doesn’t generally bother me in any car. I guess I’m just not sensitive to that. I’m always shocked when I hear people say the Stinger has too much body roll, because I find it quite good in this area.

I am definitely gonna schedule a drive of a AWD GT2 and see what that’s like. I have yet to see one of you guys have a complaint. Only the RWD GT2 owners seem to share my sentiments. You AWD owners make me want to see what it actually feels like.

I look forward to your comments after you drive one.

 

[Ty Davis]

I look forward to your comments after you drive one.

Ya know, this is stuff the car blogs,, and especially the car magazines, should report on.
Most reviews out there don’t even scratch the surface of the things that can be covered.

But yes, I will report back here what i find.

 

[Ty Davis]

@Sime Please elaborate a bit on what you disagree with.

But do keep in mind, that the Australian RWD with Electronic shocks have, what appears to be, the firmest of all Stinger ECS suspension tuning. So your results will surely differ from what we get here in the USA.

I coded my USA spec RWD GT2 ECS Computer to Australian settings and the ride stiffened up immensely. However, the Australian damping settings, are not well suited to the shocks and springs used on the USA Stingers. So I didn’t leave it setup like this.

 

[Ozstung]

Lets start a new threat with the BIGGEST persibal "problem" with our stinger.. I'll start..



I have a really big "trouble" to engange D(rive) on my stinger.. If i go to D with the button down and let the whole selector go.. it instantly goes to N(eutral) Sometimes i can pull and release 2,3,4,5 times before it acknowlegdes the D setting (awd automatix 3.3L TT)

Do you still have your foot on the foot brake when changing gear?

 

[WarrantKas]

Paint, sunroof creak, and B-pillar creak. The last two were "fixed" last time I took it in for an oil change by lubricating the seals. Other than that.....keeping my speed in check

Can you explain "paint issues"? I'm having the same issue, but the dealership says it's rock chips so they can't do anything about it. I don't like that answer because first off, this is one of many black vehicles I've owned. None of the others had this type of flaking paint issue, especially not within the first couple thousand miles and two months of ownership. None of the other black vehicles also ever had a $50k price tag, so the dealership pawning it off to "rock chips" is an insult to say the least.

 

[Ty Davis]

Do you still have your foot on the foot brake when changing gear?

I think he’s pulling the lever to D and it’s springing back to N when he lets it go under its own force.
The can happen with foot on or off the brake.

However, if he’s guiding the lever into the shift positions and back to the rest position, and it’s still not engaging drive properly, it should be looked at by the dealer.

 

[SamB]

The exhaust has no pops and bangs, that is all.

Facts. Coming from a Focus RS with a Borla on it I wish the Stinger had them lol.

 

[Gargamel]

I think he’s pulling the lever to D and it’s springing back to N when he lets it go under its own force.
The can happen with foot on or off the brake.

However, if he’s guiding the lever into the shift positions and back to the rest position, and it’s still not engaging drive properly, it should be looked at by the dealer.

Me?
I push the button, pull the lever down to "lowest position", D is shown in the display and i let go.. Instant N, happened today after windshield cleaning, pushed the RPM just below the red line before i realized it was in N again..

 

[Ty Davis]

Me?
I push the button, pull the lever down to "lowest position", D is shown in the display and i let go.. Instant N, happened today after windshield cleaning, pushed the RPM just below the red line before i realized it was in N again..

But because this car doesn’t have a regular D position, and the lever is spring loaded instead of locked into a mechanical detent, it will spring back to where you pulled it from if you just let it go. After selecting D, lightly hold on to the shifter as it returns back to its original position. I would think that would stop it from springing back too far to the N range before settling back in the in the middle.

Early Stingers had this problem, but it was supposed to be worked out during later production. However, I've even seen a couple 2019 owners report this occurrence.



Here’s what Motor Trend had to say about the GT2 shifter in their 2018 Stinger...
Seems like your same issue???

“
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[Soca Boy]

There's no rear sun shades on the windows or soft close doors(came from a K900).

 

[Soca Boy]

Only problem I’ve had so far is keeping myself from blowing tons of money on it. Ceramic coat, tints, wheels, lowering springs, sway bars, exhaust,intakes, JB4, the list goes on and on and every time I come here I find a new possibility.

Yep, I get on and its "not bad".