Stinger GT2 Rear Seat Air Vents - Issue

[Consequential]

Hi all,

I noticed that if you turn the heat on to max power and set it to blow out of the dash vents (as opposed to floor for example) the rear seat air vents hardly blow out any air. Now, if I turn the rear vent cold/hot vertical dial from full heat to full cold, the air flow is very powerful.

I'm actually at a dealship now getting the wheel alignment done (was bad from factory) and I tested a GT model as well as an Optima and both appeared to display the same behavior.

Can some of you please test your cars and comment?

Thanks!

 

[Berzerker]

Same. This is the situation in most cars. It's not economical to blow hot air out of the dash/top vents since you have to transport that hot air and keep it hot through the HVAC system, so most cars just use the lower vents and let the heat rise up in the car.

I don't have any particular issue with it, car heats up pretty quickly.

 

[Consequential]

Same. This is the situation in most cars. It's not economical to blow hot air out of the dash/top vents since you have to transport that hot air and keep it hot through the HVAC system, so most cars just use the lower vents and let the heat rise up in the car.

I don't have any particular issue with it, car heats up pretty quickly.

Thanks!

The tech said it was as designed after he also tested another Stinger...

 

[Marc Collins]

Hi all,

I noticed that if you turn the heat on to max power and set it to blow out of the dash vents (as opposed to floor for example) the rear seat air vents hardly blow out any air. Now, if I turn the rear vent cold/hot vertical dial from full heat to full cold, the air flow is very powerful.

I'm actually at a dealship now getting the wheel alignment done (was bad from factory) and I tested a GT model as well as an Optima and both appeared to display the same behavior.

Can some of you please test your cars and comment?

Thanks!

I have never believed that the vertical dial is a temperature control. In every other car that has this design (and there are plenty) it is an airflow control only. Who thinks there is three-zone climate control in the Stinger? Just allows the rear passengers to open or close airflow of whatever temp is set at the front, no?

 

[StingMe]

I have never believed that the vertical dial is a temperature control. In every other car that has this design (and there are plenty) it is an airflow control only. Who thinks there is three-zone climate control in the Stinger? Just allows the rear passengers to open or close airflow of whatever temp is set at the front, no?

REAR temperature is completely independent of the front cabin settings

From owners manual:

• Rear seat
Turn the rear seat temperature control knob to adjust temperature.

The front and rear seat side temperature is adjusted individually

(Some bad Korean translation)

 

[Marc Collins]

REAR temperature is completely independent of the front cabin settings

From owners manual:

• Rear seat
Turn the rear seat temperature control knob to adjust temperature.

The front and rear seat side temperature is adjusted individually

(Some bad Korean translation)

Funny how the "temperature" control wheel looks exactly the same as the vent air flow control wheel in about 1,000 other cars, including in the front seats of the Stinger. The markings are blue in the pic. If you scroll down do you also get red ones implying that you could have heat coming out of the back when the cool is on in the front of the car?

I hate to be a doubter, but if the Stinger has three-zone climate control (like some mini-vans and SUVs), the KIA marketing department is even stupider than I thought because not once have seen this great feature listed or mentioned.

 

[Kamauxx]

Funny how the "temperature" control wheel looks exactly the same as the vent air flow control wheel in about 1,000 other cars, including in the front seats of the Stinger.

There is no temp control dial on the front vents.

The markings are blue in the pic. If you scroll down do you also get red ones implying that you could have heat coming out of the back when the cool is on in the front of the car?

Your confusion is confusing.

I've driven to work with the heat on and not noticed the back was blowing cold until I was nearly at the job. This is because the day before the back had been changed to cool. Adjusting the temp control in the rear absolutely changes it. It does not change the air flow. There are knobs located directly on the vents to adjust how much air is flowing through them.

 

[Marc Collins]

There is no temp control dial on the front vents.



Your confusion is confusing.

I've driven to work with the heat on and not noticed the back was blowing cold until I was nearly at the job. This is because the day before the back had been changed to cool. Adjusting the temp control in the rear absolutely changes it. It does not change the air flow. There are knobs located directly on the vents to adjust how much air is flowing through them.

I am less confused now

Are there red and blue markings on the dial in the rear?

 

[Rufus]

I am less confused now

Are there red and blue markings on the dial in the rear?

There are, and I just confirmed while driving with the front controls set to 75 degrees Fahrenheit that I was able to adjust the rear vents to blow cold when the temp wheel for the rear controls was set to cold. Spinning the wheel to hot had the intended effect of blowing warm air, the volume of which was controlled by the knob in the center of each vent

 

[Marc Collins]

There are, and I just confirmed while driving with the front controls set to 75 degrees Fahrenheit that I was able to adjust the rear vents to blow cold when the temp wheel for the rear controls was set to cold. Spinning the wheel to hot had the intended effect of blowing warm air, the volume of which was controlled by the knob in the center of each vent

So this is awesome--we get three zone climate control. Why on earth aren't they telling people about this!?!?!?!

 

[StingMe]

So this is awesome--we get three zone climate control. Why on earth aren't they telling people about this!?!?!?!

Maybe Kia thinks it's normal. It is unusal.
People have complained that the trans tunnel is too hot, as well as the console. They have the HEAT on in the rear.
This badboy has its own small heater core for the rear. There are coolant lines running down the tunnel to the rear assembly.
Very robust, but problematic when owners don't realize what the Stinger has. Advantage FORUM!

 

[Elizabeth]

Hi all,

I noticed that if you turn the heat on to max power and set it to blow out of the dash vents (as opposed to floor for example) the rear seat air vents hardly blow out any air. Now, if I turn the rear vent cold/hot vertical dial from full heat to full cold, the air flow is very powerful.

I'm actually at a dealship now getting the wheel alignment done (was bad from factory) and I tested a GT model as well as an Optima and both appeared to display the same behavior.

Can some of you please test your cars and comment?

Thanks!

 

[AV8R]

Be careful as the transmission tunnel near your leg will get very hot if u have rear vent set to heat

 

[PMB]

I just wanted to raise another issue with the rear seat vents when set to full heat. The middle console compartment gets HOT, and the front tray compartments gets HOT HOT.

So hot that my phone shut off from heat. I was plugged into USB using Android Auto like I've done dozens of times. But on this trip the weather was cold, and my rear passenger was using the heat (I normally leave it in the middle range). After a while the music and navigation just shut off, and I thought maybe there was an issue with the USB cable. Well I looked at my phone, and noticed it was almost too hot to hold and it was off!!! After a few minutes my wife turned the phone on, and it said something to the effect of "Phone shut off due high temperature, and temperature is now back to normal".

Other notes:
- Canada and wireless charge pad (GT Limited)
- Charge Pad (Canada, GT Limited) is turned off in settings because I don't have a wireless charging phone
- Tray door was closed at the time
- I tested again on another drive with the heat set to medium, and the tray never got hot and the phone was okay.
- Using wireless charging pad is going to make this problem way worse because it normally makes phones pretty warm.

Solutions:
- Kia needs to throw some insulation around the ducts taking heat to the back vents.

Temporary solution, leave the tray door open when your phone is in there

 

[cwatt79]

To revive an open thread..
I wish there was a way to have the rear HVAC mimic the Driver's temperature setting. I don't want the rear vents fighting the front. I discovered this system the hard way on a 400 mile trip when my phone overheated and shut down on the charging pad, and my arm got really hot sitting on the center console cover. The rear vent adjustment wheel was dead center between hot and cold, and it was about 60 degrees outside with the front synced to 70 degrees.

Ever since then, I've played with the rear control. It's always an extreme - either extremely hot or extremely cold, regardless of outdoor temperature or the front setting. This is wasting energy and fighting the front vents for control of the cabin. I want it to blow the same temperature air as the front vents. Has anyone discovered a good way to achieve this?

Initially I assumed that keeping the wheel dead center would make it mimic the front. Like I mentioned before, I quickly realized that is not the case. This is very annoying!

 

[MerlintheMad]

Not a problem, imho. Just keep the rear wheel on COLD/Blue, and turn the central knobs on the two air vents all the way off. When you have passengers who want to change how the temperature back there is compared to what the front CC shares with the rear of the cabin, you tell them to open the air vents to the desired output, and turn the central wheel toward WARM/Red. There is a point where the cold goes OFF and the heat kicks ON, then you have them adjust how WARM/HOT with the knobs on the air vents. This will answer the problem of too warm or too cool in the back. But, it won't control how hot the center "tunnel" gets if heat is being directed back there. I keep my rear temperature wheel on all the way COLD/Blue, and the air vents closed as default.

 

[Silvermanor]

Funny how the "temperature" control wheel looks exactly the same as the vent air flow control wheel in about 1,000 other cars, including in the front seats of the Stinger. The markings are blue in the pic. If you scroll down do you also get red ones implying that you could have heat coming out of the back when the cool is on in the front of the car?

Youve never been in a BMW?

 

[Marc Collins]

Youve never been in a BMW?

You forgot to include the rest of my quote or quote from the subsequent messages.

 

[Silvermanor]

You forgot to include the rest of my quote or quote from the subsequent messages.

I guess not.

 

[B33LZ3BRAD]

Not a problem, imho. Just keep the rear wheel on COLD/Blue, and turn the central knobs on the two air vents all the way off. When you have passengers who want to change how the temperature back there is compared to what the front CC shares with the rear of the cabin, you tell them to open the air vents to the desired output, and turn the central wheel toward WARM/Red. There is a point where the cold goes OFF and the heat kicks ON, then you have them adjust how WARM/HOT with the knobs on the air vents. This will answer the problem of too warm or too cool in the back. But, it won't control how hot the center "tunnel" gets if heat is being directed back there. I keep my rear temperature wheel on all the way COLD/Blue, and the air vents closed as default.

Hi Merlin. Do you know if anyone has actually managed to effectively resolve the issue (other than turning the rear vents to cold and off - in which case it would almost be better to have no vents in the rear at all). I have seen some videos of people replacing the centre console and was wondering if there was a way of better insulating the rear vent pipes?