Warning, short novel incoming! So as mentioned, I took it on a longer drive down to the folks for Christmas. It is about a 2 hour drive on farm to market roads and the interstate which has a variety of road conditions from brand new to greatly needing replacement. I drove it down while the sun was up and back after the sun went down. As a note, my previous car was a 2010 Nissan Altima with all the bells, so it was a nice car. I'll compare it several times here.
Noise, handling, and comfort
Boy is this thing comfortable. The road noise is not gone, but much quieter than my Altima. It was a very windy day on the drive down, and even that was muted. The ride was very smooth. I could still feel bumps, drops, and the dividers between concrete slabs on bridges, but it was a muted feel. I could definitely feel the difference in the suspension from my old car. The Stinger is just a pleasure to drive. It is effortless to control, steering seems very precise to me, and it is very well mannered both on the curvy FM roads as well as the interstate. Even the gusty wind did not dramatically affect how it seemed to handle. Now that I have my
seat dialed in the way I want, and the steering wheel where I want it, it is very comfortable to drive even 2 hours straight. I never felt fatigued. The Nappa leather is just fantastic. My Altima had leather, but this is so much better than what it had. The climate control is very nice, keeping me cool while toasting my wife (as desired). The dual zone control really seems to work well. The heated and ventilated seats are fantastic. Warming/cooling very quickly. There are also several positions I could rest my arms that were very comfortable, and allowed me to move around so my shoulders/back would not get too stiff. In all respects, a step up from my already comfortable Altima.
Tech
I have the lane departure warning on, but no corrective action (it has three levels: warning, standard correction, and more aggressive correction). The lane departure seems a little sensitive, but maybe I weave too much. I'll leave the warning on, but don't think I will use the correction outside of really long drives where I might get tired. The HUD is fantastic and very easy to read. I enjoyed having the speed limit and my speed posted, as well as the blind spot notification showing up directly in my view (blind spot notifications show up on the HUD and on the mirrors). I did notice a few times where it seemed the image was not clear on really rough roads, so I wonder if the projector is not as stable as we might want, but I only noticed it once and could not reproduce it. The adaptive cruise control is amazingly smooth. I've left it at the default follow distance (max), and it really can detect cars at quite some distance. It adjusts smoothly, even braking when cars cut into the follow zone. It was so smooth that on occasion I found myself going 5 MPH or more under the limit because it slowed to the speed of the car in front! The follow distance and cruise speed show up on the HUD, and if there is a car sensed ahead, it actually shows that on the HUD as well. Very easy to use. The navigation is also very nice. The system seems easy to use (only done it once), and the directions are given very clearly. They also show up on the HUD. Driving at night, the auto-dimming rear view mirror and
side mirrors work wonderfully. I had a dimming RVM before, but the
side mirrors dimming is so nice. No more having to hold my hand in front of the mirror to keep the truck lights from blinding me! The LED headlights are fantastic. They are very bright and clear. The tracking when you turn the wheel is a little alarming at first, but I very quickly grew to like it. I haven't played with the auto high beams much yet, but they seem to do what they are supposed to as they dimmed to low beams when a car approached from the opposite direction.
Sound
As I've mentioned before, I am no audiophile. I do like the audio system in the Stinger. The preset levels were very flat, but after playing with the bass mid and high tones, it sounds much fuller to me. Even on a low volume, I get a nice thump from the system. I haven't crawled around to see if it is coming from the bottom door speaker or the under
seat sub, but I can't see the door speaker putting out this much thump. The mids are very clear, such that I can very easily understand the singer. Very pleased. I really enjoy the exhaust note as well. It sounds nice on startup, and has a nice burble while it sits there. Engine noise on acceleration is very enjoyable as well. Maybe I just don't have a good reference point to compare it, but I like it as is.
Performance
I haven't gotten to do much with it yet, as I am still breaking in the car, but I floored it a few times and it really pushed me back into the
seat. Even at full throttle, I felt in full control. More later as I get to play.
Future items
I dropped her off this morning to get the front end wrapped and the rest ceramic coated (including wheels and calipers). The dealer tinted it before I ever saw it, but I asked the guy doing the paint protection to see if it was quality film. If not, I'll have it redone. I am debating on what to do about the front license plate. In Texas, we are required by law to have the front plates. Kia has indentations already in the bumper to facilitate this, but the mount still must be screwed into the bumper. I really like the clean look without it, so I am looking into alternatives so that I can easily remove it when I want to take some photos. I know there are tow hook mounts, and I might look into those before doing something irreversible like drilling through the bumper.
If you are still with me, the short of it is I am still madly in love. I have absolutely no regrets on this purchase. I smile every time I walk into my garage, and grin like a crazy person when I am driving it around.
If you have any questions, want me to clear something up, or want me to talk about something in particular that maybe I haven't yet, please ask. I am so excited about this car and love to talk about it!
Yes, that red tends to change color in different lighting - which is very nice. It's definitely a unique and eye-catching red. It reminds me of the Lexus SC400 paint from years ago. That car was what got me interested in Lexus and the paint had a lot to do with it...
