Suspension Performance and How to Improve it!

[Dochidalgo]

I don’t like big rear bars on RWD cars. Stinger seems to turn well too. Bigger rear bar Limits rear traction too. I’d go bigger front. Bigger front tends to hold everything straight so rears hook up better. I think Eibach kit is fine I’d just like to see a damper that goes with that kit . It’s too bad we can’t dial in bump with a set of gas dampers. My ideal is slightly firmer rear shock settings Little more compression from damper and near to oem size sway bars.

@CaliSting, and fellow members with Eibach Pro Kit installed........Kia claims that the GT2 has installed "high performance dampers". So do you think that replacing the stock springs with progressive ones, like Eibach's Pro Kit would be enough in order to get more maneuverability and less floating behavior????. I'm very disappointed with the suspension performance (my former 2016 Nissan Maxima SR made me feel in control)....Thanks

 

[CaliSting]

@CaliSting, and fellow members with Eibach Pro Kit installed........Kia claims that the GT2 has installed "high performance dampers". So do you think that replacing the stock springs with progressive ones, like Eibach's Pro Kit would be enough in order to get more maneuverability and less floating behavior????. I'm very disappointed with the suspension performance (my former 2016 Nissan Maxima SR made me feel in control)....Thanks

Im probably not a good indicator as I drive and race porsches . For most think springs and bars will be fine.

 

[Mr Skillet]

I don’t like big rear bars on RWD cars. Stinger seems to turn well too. Bigger rear bar Limits rear traction too. I’d go bigger front. Bigger front tends to hold everything straight so rears hook up better. I think Eibach kit is fine I’d just like to see a damper that goes with that kit . It’s too bad we can’t dial in bump with a set of gas dampers. My ideal is slightly firmer rear shock settings Little more compression from damper and near to oem size sway bars.

I feel like the car hits a sweet spot for overall ride comfort and balance. Its by no means a time attack car, but I think there is some fluidity to the way the suspension is tuned where the body motions, roll, squat, dive are still pretty controlled. That leads me to believe the setup is heavy on dampening with soft springs like many of the sporty German cars. I think there is still enough rebound control in the current shock tuning to allow for a decent increase in spring rates without having any ill effects. I also feel like the stiffness is good enough on the car. I feel like with the near zero camber and really the car being under tired for its weight and size, additional roll stiffness might make it easier to overload to tires at both turn in and transitioning to throttle at corner exit. Perhaps one of these tuners can unlock the EDC controls and allow us to change the shock tuning to match some custom spring rates, maybe call up swift for a set. Progressive springs are a good cheap fix to both have a stiffer spring and not destroy street comfort over broken pavement, but I've always found them difficult to setup in shock tuning because you're always compromising between variable spring rates depending on compression. Ultimately, I feel like the over all setup is great for 80-90% of buyers, but those of us that come from weekend track cars or focused sports cars love to dial in that perfect personalized feel

 

[Kazz]

I feel like the car hits a sweet spot for overall ride comfort and balance. Its by no means a time attack car, but I think there is some fluidity to the way the suspension is tuned where the body motions, roll, squat, dive are still pretty controlled. That leads me to believe the setup is heavy on dampening with soft springs like many of the sporty German cars. I think there is still enough rebound control in the current shock tuning to allow for a decent increase in spring rates without having any ill effects. I also feel like the stiffness is good enough on the car. I feel like with the near zero camber and really the car being under tired for its weight and size, additional roll stiffness might make it easier to overload to tires at both turn in and transitioning to throttle at corner exit. Perhaps one of these tuners can unlock the EDC controls and allow us to change the shock tuning to match some custom spring rates, maybe call up swift for a set. Progressive springs are a good cheap fix to both have a stiffer spring and not destroy street comfort over broken pavement, but I've always found them difficult to setup in shock tuning because you're always compromising between variable spring rates depending on compression. Ultimately, I feel like the over all setup is great for 80-90% of buyers, but those of us that come from weekend track cars or focused sports cars love to dial in that perfect personalized feel

Well thought out. Thanks.

 

[CaliSting]

I feel like the car hits a sweet spot for overall ride comfort and balance. Its by no means a time attack car, but I think there is some fluidity to the way the suspension is tuned where the body motions, roll, squat, dive are still pretty controlled. That leads me to believe the setup is heavy on dampening with soft springs like many of the sporty German cars. I think there is still enough rebound control in the current shock tuning to allow for a decent increase in spring rates without having any ill effects. I also feel like the stiffness is good enough on the car. I feel like with the near zero camber and really the car being under tired for its weight and size, additional roll stiffness might make it easier to overload to tires at both turn in and transitioning to throttle at corner exit. Perhaps one of these tuners can unlock the EDC controls and allow us to change the shock tuning to match some custom spring rates, maybe call up swift for a set. Progressive springs are a good cheap fix to both have a stiffer spring and not destroy street comfort over broken pavement, but I've always found them difficult to setup in shock tuning because you're always compromising between variable spring rates depending on compression. Ultimately, I feel like the over all setup is great for 80-90% of buyers, but those of us that come from weekend track cars or focused sports cars love to dial in that perfect personalized feel

I often wonder if people who think car is well controlled and dampened just drive nice smooth roads and on ramps? I could see it as on parts of my daily drive car feels well dampened and somewhat controlled. However when I drive undulating twisty mountain back roads and the stinger wallows with no effective control. Hate to say it but my Mercedes based Dodge Durango SUV has better body control than my Stinger . And even more amazing to me my Porsche soaks up bumps better than the Stinger. Stinger sort of has this crashy sharp frequency reaction when I hit bumps. Stinger also has a habit of allowing rear end to hop under acceleration in turns. Now interestingly the front bar only has minimized the hop a little. So I do think car could benefit from a little more dampening. Oh and the stock sway bars are pee pee sized. Way too small for such a large sedan. Eibach engineers did great job of figuring out Stinger - Kia should have just hired them to do suspension tuning . honestly im thinking of just doing bars and not springs as eibach bars add just enough effective spring rate to the car that it retains stock is ride quality but works so much better in turns.


Not a time attack car? Ha!

 

[Dochidalgo]

The right cover panel and the exhaust tube was hit by a speed bump because a bad spring&damper configuration....of course, my statement belongs to an inexpert owner in this matter, but my 2016 Nissan Maxima SR (Stinger 1825 kg vs Maxima 1608 kg) never hit the same speed bump. My car is a daily commute on a highway and my speedometer marks 120-140 km/hr were is safe to drive. In 3 curves I have been able to test the Stinger handling which leaves much to be desired in terms of control and maneuverability, I do not feel in control, so that I miss my Maxima SR. I like my Stinger a lot, but it is not free of "imperfections", like its suspension performance.
So, my personal opinion is to replace the springs (for now, and before to replace the sway bars too) and tune the damper performance to 25% more stiffier than stock when it be available.

ADD: My wife told me that she feels the Stinger suspension more softer than the Maxima's, even in Sport mode......

 

[Never thought]

Forgive me for this question, I am still learning about suspensions so I am not sure of the answer after reading this thread and doing research online.

The Eibach progressive springs will help with body roll. That I understand. However, when I take a turn, especially at highway speeds (like taking an exit onto another freeway) and the tires hit a gap or bump in the road, the car feels like it gets a little squirly or uncontrolled, almost like a FWD car does. Would the springs eliminate that or drastically reduce it? I hope this makes sense. Thx in advance folks.

 

[Mr Skillet]

View attachment 10329
I often wonder if people who think car is well controlled and dampened just drive nice smooth roads and on ramps? I could see it as on parts of my daily drive car feels well dampened and somewhat controlled. However when I drive undulating twisty mountain back roads and the stinger wallows with no effective control. Hate to say it but my Mercedes based Dodge Durango SUV has better body control than my Stinger . And even more amazing to me my Porsche soaks up bumps better than the Stinger. Stinger sort of has this crashy sharp frequency reaction when I hit bumps. Stinger also has a habit of allowing rear end to hop under acceleration in turns. Now interestingly the front bar only has minimized the hop a little. So I do think car could benefit from a little more dampening. Oh and the stock sway bars are pee pee sized. Way too small for such a large sedan. Eibach engineers did great job of figuring out Stinger - Kia should have just hired them to do suspension tuning . honestly im thinking of just doing bars and not springs as eibach bars add just enough effective spring rate to the car that it retains stock is ride quality but works so much better in turns.


Not a time attack car? Ha!

Maybe I'm getting old, but no car will be perfect for everyone in every situation. I'm speaking from my experience only. I agree, the best factory sports car that strikes the best balance in commuting comfort and back road canyon carving is probably Porsche. The Durango and the GL chassis that its derived from may have better body control over undulating roads, but the rides are what I would consider busy with lots of sharp high frequency impacts making it through the high sidewall tire and the suspension.

I spend most of my time commuting around the very poorly maintained roads of greater LA and SGV area, and I race a nissan 240 and NA1 NSX, so I'm no stranger to track prepped race cars. The one thing I noticed in terms of ride and NVH, particularly on broken pavement and poorly maintained sections of the 10 and 60, is that the car absorbs much of the high frequency small bumps in the road despite having low profile tires. The car was designed and marketed as a long distance GT car and I feel like it has accomplished that in spades! The fact that the chassis is has balanced, relatively direct feel to it is just a bonus.

Many cars in this class, including cars from bmw, audi, mercedes have gone towards the "comfort" commuting route. Most of them actually are fairly comfortable but fewer and fewer of them actually have a balanced limit handling feel of the stinger. Long story short, the ride is a few clicks too far on the "I'm too old" and cushy side, but it sure makes the extended trips around LA and down to OC super comfortable. Can it benefit from a significant step up in low speed bump and rebound dampening(body motions)? Sure! Spend another $3-5k in the form of a 3 way coil over from Ohlin or KW with separate low and highspeed rebound and bump adjustment would certainly improve increase the dynamic range of the car and give it more capability both on the commute and the twisties. That being said, what other 40-50k new mid size sedan today delivers a comparable package to the Stinger gt/gt1/gt2?

I'm pretty happy with the GT2 since this is my daily beater, if I were to nit pick, I'd make the intake/exhaust a bit louder to let in the cool turbo and BOV noises and I'd probably increase the rear roll and spring stiffness a little with the ability to dial up dampening to match. That's probably the only things I'd ever change to the car to make it perfect for ME! I hope the aftermarket gives the stinger as long love as they did with the Genesis coupe and other Kia's, otherwise everyone should just enjoy the car, I'm loving it!

 

[Mr Skillet]

Forgive me for this question, I am still learning about suspensions so I am not sure of the answer after reading this thread and doing research online.

The Eibach progressive springs will help with body roll. That I understand. However, when I take a turn, especially at highway speeds (like taking an exit onto another freeway) and the tires hit a gap or bump in the road, the car feels like it gets a little squirly or uncontrolled, almost like a FWD car does. Would the springs eliminate that or drastically reduce it? I hope this makes sense. Thx in advance folks.

Springs and swaybars will both give you more roll stiffness and eliminate some of the suspension slope, sway bars will leave your straight line ride comfort the same, while springs will reduce the compliance.

 

[mulepic]

I have to agree w/ the original post on this thread, when going around a turn and over any bump the car feels squirrely. Sport mode helps a little but not enough. I have the GT2 and I'm hoping someday someone figures out how to hack the electronically controlled suspension to improve it.

 

[Steve Ostrowski]

Check out the recent reviews in the media section here , lots of really good feedback

FANTASTIC NEWS FOR ALL. My Stinger got a software upgrade sometime around October 15. Kia did it automatically. Now my transmission is perfect in full Auto Mode and my suspension is stiffer in Sport Mode. I know I'm not crazy because the dash display has a different graphic for the driver attention function.
Never mind that though. I am now able to switch to SUPER SPORT MODE with a toggle I had installed in the coin tray. You see, I figured out if the suspension controls fail, the shocks would have to fail to firm. So all I have to do is break the circuit to one of the shock solenoids and I have super sport stiff suspension. Close the circuit and the computer restores the adaptive system. If you leave it in SUPER SPORT for too long, the computer will notice and you can't restore the adaptive until you close the circuit and restart the car. In the meantime, AWESOME SUSPENSION. The car is buttoned down and you can toss it around like a maniac without looking like a maniac because it's under control. Spread the good news to all suspension fanatics! Comfort is soft. Sport is Firm. Super Sport is for serious drivers.

 

[Marc Collins]

FANTASTIC NEWS FOR ALL. My Stinger got a software upgrade sometime around October 15. Kia did it automatically. Now my transmission is perfect in full Auto Mode and my suspension is stiffer in Sport Mode. I know I'm not crazy because the dash display has a different graphic for the driver attention function.
Never mind that though. I am now able to switch to SUPER SPORT MODE with a toggle I had installed in the coin tray. You see, I figured out if the suspension controls fail, the shocks would have to fail to firm. So all I have to do is break the circuit to one of the shock solenoids and I have super sport stiff suspension. Close the circuit and the computer restores the adaptive system. If you leave it in SUPER SPORT for too long, the computer will notice and you can't restore the adaptive until you close the circuit and restart the car. In the meantime, AWESOME SUSPENSION. The car is buttoned down and you can toss it around like a maniac without looking like a maniac because it's under control. Spread the good news to all suspension fanatics! Comfort is soft. Sport is Firm. Super Sport is for serious drivers.

Wow, awesome!

Can you explain the transmission update, as in what it did or changed--and do you have a reference number from your service so the rest of us can get it?

The suspension hack means it should be not impossible to add a third mode (under Custom perhaps) that is either fully firm or close to fully firm. Or, your option is fine--I wouldn't mind having to restart the car to get it out of the "special" super sport mode.

 

[Steve Ostrowski]

The transmission upshifts and downshifts are managed better. Upshifts are a little later and downshifts are a little sooner and you can'
t feel them like before. It's like there is very subtle rev matching in the downshift actions. You can't hear that but you also can't feel it. Before I could feel every downshift with a little engine braking. Also you can dip into the throttle more without it defaulting to a downshift. I like that a lot more. I want to apply throttle without the revs in grunting around town. If I want to downshift I have the paddles. But I honestly haven't felt the need for the paddles since the software was updated. Now I got the second car delivered in Canada. So it's possible that makes me feel a big difference as others with later deliveries may already have the improved software. One thing's for sure. My car's tuning was vastly improved October 15th and the dealer had nothing to do with it.

 

[Marc Collins]

The transmission upshifts and downshifts are managed better. Upshifts are a little later and downshifts are a little sooner and you can'
t feel them like before. It's like there is very subtle rev matching in the downshift actions. You can't hear that but you also can't feel it. Before I could feel every downshift with a little engine braking. Also you can dip into the throttle more without it defaulting to a downshift. I like that a lot more. I want to apply throttle without the revs in grunting around town. If I want to downshift I have the paddles. But I honestly haven't felt the need for the paddles since the software was updated. Now I got the second car delivered in Canada. So it's possible that makes me feel a big difference as others with later deliveries may already have the improved software. One thing's for sure. My car's tuning was vastly improved October 15th and the dealer had nothing to do with it.

Great! Is there a code or reference number for the update, so we can inquire when we get our cars serviced? The dealers should always check for these things, but most don't unless someone complains.

Could it be SA341 (see thread on here about it)? Sounds similar. Does the car downshift and decelerate at the same rate as before, but just smoother, or did they turn it into a 1990's Buick that coasts along without downshifting? Also, did it change manual mode the way KIA promised? So it's actually fully manual when you are in Sport mode?

And sorry to divert this thread--if it was SA341, we can take the discussion over to that thread.

 

[corradoMR2]

^^^Yeah would love to know. Was at the dealer for warranty service and no new TSBs mentioned nor applied.

 

[Beege]

FANTASTIC NEWS FOR ALL. My Stinger got a software upgrade sometime around October 15. Kia did it automatically. Now my transmission is perfect in full Auto Mode and my suspension is stiffer in Sport Mode. I know I'm not crazy because the dash display has a different graphic for the driver attention function.
Never mind that though. I am now able to switch to SUPER SPORT MODE with a toggle I had installed in the coin tray. You see, I figured out if the suspension controls fail, the shocks would have to fail to firm. So all I have to do is break the circuit to one of the shock solenoids and I have super sport stiff suspension. Close the circuit and the computer restores the adaptive system. If you leave it in SUPER SPORT for too long, the computer will notice and you can't restore the adaptive until you close the circuit and restart the car. In the meantime, AWESOME SUSPENSION. The car is buttoned down and you can toss it around like a maniac without looking like a maniac because it's under control. Spread the good news to all suspension fanatics! Comfort is soft. Sport is Firm. Super Sport is for serious drivers.

Can you post a photo of the new graphic please?

 

[Jwolf]

The transmission upshifts and downshifts are managed better. Upshifts are a little later and downshifts are a little sooner and you can'
t feel them like before. It's like there is very subtle rev matching in the downshift actions. You can't hear that but you also can't feel it. Before I could feel every downshift with a little engine braking. Also you can dip into the throttle more without it defaulting to a downshift. I like that a lot more. I want to apply throttle without the revs in grunting around town. If I want to downshift I have the paddles. But I honestly haven't felt the need for the paddles since the software was updated. Now I got the second car delivered in Canada. So it's possible that makes me feel a big difference as others with later deliveries may already have the improved software. One thing's for sure. My car's tuning was vastly improved October 15th and the dealer had nothing to do with it.

When you say the dealer had nothing to do with it, and the update was automatic, do you mean Kia wirelessly flashed an update to your car? That's cool if it's possible but I'm also wondering how it would be possible

 

[upsidedown]

The transmission upshifts and downshifts are managed better. Upshifts are a little later and downshifts are a little sooner and you can't feel them like before.

Steve PM sent. I'm assuming your car is the 3.3 ltr with DBW shifter?

 

[Marc Collins]

When you say the dealer had nothing to do with it, and the update was automatic, do you mean Kia wirelessly flashed an update to your car? That's cool if it's possible but I'm also wondering how it would be possible

I think he meant the dealer did their job by checking and then automatically applying outstanding updates. Something that should happen at any service appointment.

 

[Jwolf]

I think he meant the dealer did their job by checking and then automatically applying outstanding updates. Something that should happen at any service appointment.

That would make more sense. I almost think it's less believable then the other option I suggested lol