What if Ford made the Stinger? Let me explain!

[CKeeler]

First and last Ford (car) I'll ever buy. Also, still drive the crap out of it.

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Now THAT was a fun car! My parents had a red ‘90 that they put 275k miles on and sold it still running strong. I learned stick in that car alongside my dad’s ’95 F250 he still drives.

That engine bay is one of the most beautiful sights in the world

 

[DavidinGA]

Sure, a 4 door V8 that doesn't handle like a giant boat (charger scat pack) sign me up.

I basically only bought the stinger because #1 I need 4 doors #2 an M3 was out of my price range and #3 performance mods are amazing bang for the buck.

 

[billy_vk]

I had the SHO before the Stinger. Definitely a fun car when lowered and tuned. Would shock everything with a V8 at a light. Got rid of it because the mileage was getting up there. I looked at everything with two doors and a V8 and then saw the Stinger on a used lot. Took it for a drive and decided a few days later to go with it. Very similar handling car honestly when set up the same on springs and sway bars.

 

[LordKOTL]

My gut tells me one of the problems with the Stinger is the Kia badge.
Both Kia and Hyundai are still on a lot of peoples don't buy list, mostly because of what the Koreans put on the road 25-30 years ago.
Once a reputation has been established, it's very difficult to change.
The opposite is true as well. I know lots of people that buy Hondas and Toyotas without looking at anything else.
They are buying the name plate, regardless of how bad the actual product may be.
If the Stinger had a different badge on the trunk lid, I'm betting sales would have been a lot higher.

This is true, and it works in a lot of directions.

I will never have a Ford car as my personal vehicle. It's a long story but suffice to say it involves a seat belt snapping in a car crash when I was a kid. I am 100% sure that the safety of modern Ford vehicles are much, much better--like my wife's electric pony, but I will not personally own a Ford vehicle. Ditto with WD hard drives. Back in the 90's I had too many of them have head crashes which resulted in therapeutic retiring of said hard drives with an axe (quite similar to the printer scene in Office Space), and as a result, I'll never own one again--even though they are more reliable and plenty of critical systems run on them.

Conversely, My bro has a Kia Spectra5, which, while nothing special, was more reliable transportation for him than almost every GM and Mopar vehicle he's owned. He subsequently had a Veloster, 1 Tucson (which got totaled due to some kid trying to overdrift into the dino dimension and taking his Tucson and a Mercedes out). and his current Tucson. My dad has a Sonata for a long time that was again, unspectacular but reliable transportation. My bonus mom had an Elantra for years and same thing--unspectacular but reliable.

So I had no problems with getting a Stinger in spite of the nameplate. Further, I know I'm not paying extra for a nameplate. In my opinion, those who would overlook a Stinger simply because it's a Kia, well, their loss.

 

[NYBIOMED]

The Yamaha engines in the original Taurus SHO were legendary. There's a story that during Obama's "cash for clunkers" somebody brought one in and the bottle of sodium silicate couldn't kill that engine until a 2nd bottle was poured in.

 

[CKeeler]

The Yamaha engines in the original Taurus SHO were legendary. There's a story that during Obama's "cash for clunkers" somebody brought one in and the bottle of sodium silicate couldn't kill that engine until a 2nd bottle was poured in.

I would have smacked the person that brought that car in to kill it!

 

[Kr33m0]

My gut tells me one of the problems with the Stinger is the Kia badge.
Both Kia and Hyundai are still on a lot of peoples don't buy list, mostly because of what the Koreans put on the road 25-30 years ago.
Once a reputation has been established, it's very difficult to change.
The opposite is true as well. I know lots of people that buy Hondas and Toyotas without looking at anything else.
They are buying the name plate, regardless of how bad the actual product may be.
If the Stinger had a different badge on the trunk lid, I'm betting sales would have been a lot higher.

But Toyota, Nissan etc were all once in the shoes of Kia and Hyundai, right? Hasn't Kia already dug themselves out of that stigma?

 

[Snicklefritz]

But Toyota, Nissan etc were all once in the shoes of Kia and Hyundai, right? Hasn't Kia already dug themselves out of that stigma?

they have. the stinger was produced to prove that kia has arrived. the very next year kia had to double production of the telluride before its introductory year was out. buyers were waiting 12 months to get their tellurides. anyone who disses the kia badge is either asleep or is complaining about the service at a typical kia dealership, which is lagging behind the quality of the vehicles themselves.

 

[DonD]

While a Stinger look alike might be a bit faster in the top end, I can say that the flat torque curve of the 3.3T makes it a more enjoyable car.

I had a 2014 C7 Corvette and the Stinger is much quicker. Traded it in on a 2016 Chevy SS, same thing. That car was destroyed in a head on that the on scene police officer said was 100% the other driver's fault.

Just got a Cadillac CTV-4 Blackwing. Only 350 miles into its 1500 mile breaking period but in this case I think the Blackwing will quickly show our Stinger its tailights, power everywhere. Doesn't make me appreciate the Stinger less. Don

 

[Transmetal]

While a Stinger look alike might be a bit faster in the top end, I can say that the flat torque curve of the 3.3T makes it a more enjoyable car.

I had a 2014 C7 Corvette and the Stinger is much quicker. Traded it in on a 2016 Chevy SS, same thing. That car was destroyed in a head on that the on scene police officer said was 100% the other driver's fault.

Just got a Cadillac CTV-4 Blackwing. Only 350 miles into its 1500 mile breaking period but in this case I think the Blackwing will quickly show our Stinger its tailights, power everywhere. Doesn't make me appreciate the Stinger less. Don

How is the Stinger quicker than a C7? Are you talking about a modded Stinger?

 

[Devin]

How is the Stinger quicker than a C7? Are you talking about a modded Stinger?

Driver mod?

 

[DonD]

How is the Stinger quicker than a C7? Are you talking about a modded Stinger?

No, a bone stock 2022 GT1. Far more low end torque. The C7 had to get pretty far up into the RPM band before it even caught up. Later C7s than mine had tighter gearing, meaning higher numerical gear ratios. Don

 

[DonD]

Driver mod?

Rreally funny, no, both cars were automatics. Don

 

[Dan00Hawk]

The 2017-2019 Ford Fusion Sport (2.7 twin turbo, 325hp 380tq, AWD) was not far off from a Stinger, but more bland styling with a regular trunk. Kind of like a mid-size Taurus SHO. More of a sleeper since most folks don't know about it, and looks like a typical rental car...

Tested: 2017 Ford Fusion Sport

Ford packs 325 horsepower under the hood of its mid-size sedan to produce a Q-ship for drivers in a hurry.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[NYBIOMED]

The 2017-2019 Ford Fusion Sport (2.7 twin turbo, 325hp 380tq, AWD) was not far off from a Stinger, but more bland styling with a regular trunk. Kind of like a mid-size Taurus SHO. More of a sleeper since most folks don't know about it, and looks like a typical rental car...

Tested: 2017 Ford Fusion Sport

Ford packs 325 horsepower under the hood of its mid-size sedan to produce a Q-ship for drivers in a hurry.

www.caranddriver.com

Wow, didn't really know about this model. Article says some dealers were selling this for under $30k, that would've been a good deal on a sleeper for sure. Noone looks twice at the bland styling of a Ford Fusion- even had adaptive dampers. I'll have to keep my eyes alert and look for one on the road, would definitely give my AWD 2.5T with the JB4 an interesting run if it lives up to the 5.1s 0-60

 

[CKeeler]

I had heard the “engine noise” didn’t keep up with the shifts. “Savage Geese” reviewer

I really wanted to like it but I wasn’t wanting AWD, plus my wife wasn’t wanting to change her car at the time