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I thought the ride was very good considering the tires used, much softer than the last Q60 I drove. The G70 (from the photos) has a much plusher interior, but the rear seat room is much smaller, more like an IS. It is 6" shorter than the Stinger so it must be a bit lighter thus faster and better handling.
I'm surprised at the comment about the small trunk in the Stinger. With the rear seat up, it has 20 cu. ft of trunk space.
How are the up and downshifts compared to the RCF?
RCF - tad quicker tranny shifts , up and down. I'd compare the Stinger's to the IS/RC 350 RWD's 8-speed which is good but not blazingly quick like a DCT or as quick as the RC F's.
Originally Posted by ST430
Got to test drive a Stinger 3.3GT today. Here's my quick take on it coming from a Q50 RS400 owner:
- Stinger ( GT1 RWD): in person, it looks much more sleek with the hatchback Panamera styling. Inside was ok, but had plenty of room in the rear, albeit the trunk is small. Mash the pedal, and gobs of torque throws you back bit. Dare I say that it felt faster than my RS400 when it was stock. However, the real surprise is in the handling, where it is tight yet with a compliant ride. Feels so much better than a stock RS400 and probably as good if not better than my lowered Q w/ FSTB, lightweight wheels, summer tires, and 2 piece front rotors. In summary
, was very impressed with the overall package and is a good value at $38k MSRP (no discounts). If only Genesis made something like this, as brand *****s like me just are too bothered by the KIA nameplate. However, I would recommend it to friends.
Nice to hear about your positive impressions. To this day, I feel the same way - it's a fantastic vehicle (and an even better value proposition in Canada).
Agree, the KIA badge bugged me at first and I wanted a G70 until I saw the more sedate sedan styling in pics last year and opted out of it. But it didn't take me long to get over the "badge". No KIA badging anywhere on the car including wheels and steering wheel. I got the S.Korean spec badging since I like the look of it and to help me forget it's a KIA, but no shame at all telling people it's a KIA. In fact, when people at lights, parking lots, etc see the car, they can't figure out what it is! Most commonly, they ask if it's a new Porsche or Maserati and they keep guessing until I tell them it's a KIA. They are jaw-dropped-shocked, but impressed with the car. It's very amusing!
Small trunk? Biggest I've had in any non-SUV I've owned
I was lent the Stinger 3.3 GT to drive around in Atlanta for a about a hour from a Dealer about a month ago, while my G/F's Kia Optima SXL 2.0T was getting serviced in the shop. My overview and impression was that I could live with the car. Very quick, comfortable seating, and nice layout. Steering good, but a little on the hard side.
Things I did not like. Not very quite inside, too much wind and, tire noise for me. More than I like..., though they could have done much better. Hard jolting ride quality, Optima SXL is the same. But not the result of handing on rails. Handling was a so, so for what it is suppose to be. Tires could be the issue though. Engine was a 9.0 plus very nice low to mid Torque. It pulls hard down low and up top. I kinda think it's making more Horsepower than Kia claims. Body Style for me needs a few tweaks, updates and refinements. Kinda like how the Camaro has come along in years. But like I said, I could live with the Car for the positives that I like about it.
For the price I'm still not Sold on any Hyundai products. Especially the higher cost ones. Long term reliability is a big deal to me. Hyundai Corp still has a fair amount of unusual, before 100k mile engine problems that are cropping up. Not to say that its not changed yet. But they are still losing Engines short of 100k and 3 years old. But time will tell.
i thought it looked classy and more expensive than it is on the road. if i didn't know it was a kia i would have thought it was an audi.
Open the door, and look at the dash, and you'll think even more so. There are strong similarities inside to the A3......not surprising, perhaps, when one remembers that Kia got their Chief Stylist from Audi.
Today a Stinger GT parked next to us. The color is called Ceramic Silver a beautiful gray (looked non-metallic). The color was understated but still stood out among all the other cars in the immediate area.
05-26-18, 10:40 PM
