- Feb 14, 2004
- 49,103
- 5,685
- 136
Test-drove a Kia Stinger ($30 - $50k Kia sports sedan). Thoughts:
1. It's both bigger & smaller than I expected. It is a GT, after all, but with how much people talked about the large-ish size, I was expecting something like Lincoln-size, haha.
2. Very low to the ground, both the ground clearance & the car itself. I was surprised. Still a decent size, but it's like the first time you see a lambo & realize just how small they are IRL.
3. As expected, rear visibility is awful. Rear quarter was pretty mediocre too.
4. Trunk is freakin' ginormous.
5. Power is crazy. Really really really fun. 375HP twin-turbo V6 (turbo 4 also available, haven't tested yet).
6. Available in automatic only, no stick.
7. The 8-speed is Kia's own transmission iirc. It is really good. Best non-6-speed auto I've driven, by far. No lurching issues & I didn't notice any annoying gear-hunting or anything.
8. You really have to push down on the pedal to get it to move, unless you put it on sports mode.
9. It was roomy, although my legs were snug. 50/50 on my knee issue...kind of bothered me knee on the right side, but didn't hurt it.
10. Seats were pretty dang comfortable. Decent room in the back seats, too.
11. All of the colors look much better in person than they do in the photos. The concrete (light gray) is actually pretty nice in-person, it's almost like a matte concrete color with a clearcoat on it - no metallic in it, I guess is what I'm trying to say. The blue actually looks great in person. Red wasn't my favorite, but definitely made the understated design pop out more.
13. HUD was great.
14. Brakes were really excellent (Brembro).
I like the idea of the car - AWD, powerful, sedan, sleeper design, good driving experience. Price is definitely sticker shock for a Kia, although thousands less than its competitors (if you don't mind the badge). The AWD seems nice, although the car is pretty low & the overall car itself (body-wise) is low, so I'd be curious to see how it fares in heavy snow.
Quick tangent, sat in a Cadenza - pretty nice, great sounding engine too. Also checked out the Niro (Kia's version of a Prius) - I fit in it surprisingly well!
1. It's both bigger & smaller than I expected. It is a GT, after all, but with how much people talked about the large-ish size, I was expecting something like Lincoln-size, haha.
2. Very low to the ground, both the ground clearance & the car itself. I was surprised. Still a decent size, but it's like the first time you see a lambo & realize just how small they are IRL.
3. As expected, rear visibility is awful. Rear quarter was pretty mediocre too.
4. Trunk is freakin' ginormous.
5. Power is crazy. Really really really fun. 375HP twin-turbo V6 (turbo 4 also available, haven't tested yet).
6. Available in automatic only, no stick.
7. The 8-speed is Kia's own transmission iirc. It is really good. Best non-6-speed auto I've driven, by far. No lurching issues & I didn't notice any annoying gear-hunting or anything.
8. You really have to push down on the pedal to get it to move, unless you put it on sports mode.
9. It was roomy, although my legs were snug. 50/50 on my knee issue...kind of bothered me knee on the right side, but didn't hurt it.
10. Seats were pretty dang comfortable. Decent room in the back seats, too.
11. All of the colors look much better in person than they do in the photos. The concrete (light gray) is actually pretty nice in-person, it's almost like a matte concrete color with a clearcoat on it - no metallic in it, I guess is what I'm trying to say. The blue actually looks great in person. Red wasn't my favorite, but definitely made the understated design pop out more.
13. HUD was great.
14. Brakes were really excellent (Brembro).
I like the idea of the car - AWD, powerful, sedan, sleeper design, good driving experience. Price is definitely sticker shock for a Kia, although thousands less than its competitors (if you don't mind the badge). The AWD seems nice, although the car is pretty low & the overall car itself (body-wise) is low, so I'd be curious to see how it fares in heavy snow.
Quick tangent, sat in a Cadenza - pretty nice, great sounding engine too. Also checked out the Niro (Kia's version of a Prius) - I fit in it surprisingly well!
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