A UK Forum section

[Ozstung]

Hi Gazp, welcome to the forum. I'm based down near Reading and own a red 2.2 CRDi GT Line S, fabulous car, in the 6 months I have had the car I have yet to see another one on the road

Formerly of Camberley 42 years & 28 days ago.

 

[Saintspete]

Hi all
Glad to find some more Stinger owners in the UK
We are now on our second one having previously owned a red 3.3 GTS.
We now have an Ember Orange 3.3 GTS and love the looks I get.
I can’t believe more people don’t look past the KIA badge as OMG these are such amazing cars to drive.
Pete/Tracy

 

[Tinter]

If any of you UK chaps are ordering from the US shop, let me know I can probably buy a few items from the shop and share the postage etc. Postage from US looks to be about $22

Note the following, over the value of £39 its import VAT on the value of the product excluding postage costs. So 20% VAT and then £8 admin fee on top. Over £135 its VAT + Customs Duty of 2.5% + £8 admin charge

Sal is your man at kiastinger.com and shipping any bits to England must be much easier than downunder and all my bits arrived in perfect condition.
Rob

 

[Tinter]

Hi all
Glad to find some more Stinger owners in the UK
We are now on our second one having previously owned a red 3.3 GTS.
We now have an Ember Orange 3.3 GTS and love the looks I get.
I can’t believe more people don’t look past the KIA badge as OMG these are such amazing cars to drive.
Pete/Tracy

The wheel overlay with the GTS in Orange looks ideal.

 

[Saintspete]

Thanks
I wasn’t sure how they would look but really happy with the look.
I’ve also installed the borla catback s type exhaust on her and she sounds great.

 

[mtuckeruk]

Hi lifemissioner. I actually saw my 1st Stinger in the wild on Saturday! Very rare car and mine debadged too, so I know what you mean regarding people not knowing what the car is!

@Hilleagle looks to me its just you and me with Diesel versions, and with it discontinued now, we probably wont see many more although still quite a few advertised on autotrader etc. So tempted to remap it, had my Insignia 2.0 litre diesel remapped about 2 years ago and it still drives well. It made a huge difference in general driving and fuel economy was still brilliant, probably better than before. The Stinger is surprisingly almost the same size as the Insignia and with both been hatchbacks I see several similarities. Both can fit a large road bike in without taking any wheels off the bike, yeah I'm a roadie and love the fact you can just chuck a whole bike in the back as is. Are you not tempted to remap or tune your diesel, or warranty preventing you? If it wasn't for warranty I would remap it to 20% no questions. So far I have rebadged everything, quad exhaust diffuser and window tinting, ordered a few parts for interior as well like the boot tray liner, Stinger car mats and a few others I am waiting on from abroad like the trays inside arm rest etc. Think a remap will make the diesel a lot more fun.

 

[Hilleagle]

Hi mtucker
The cars are rare and diesel even more so. But I like that about the car.
Yes, I have considered remap, as I think it would be very beneficial on this car. Warranty is the preventing thing at moment so also considered a race chip, so can remove for servicing.

 

[mtuckeruk]

I looked into race chip and did some research and remap seems a much better option, but yes you can kiss the warranty goodbye with a remap, although I think even with a race chip you can kiss the warranty goodbye , from what I have read the technicians will be able to determine from the ecu / computers on board if you have exceeded limits thats if they are looking for it of course. My is rebadges, quad exhaust and tinted so probably looks a bit suspect and they might dig a bit deeper. But to be honest I have had these extended warranties before on a hyundais and they really dont seem to count for that much unless you have a massive failure. They seem to always bring it down to wear and tear etc etc. It almost needs to be a design failure of some sort. For myself I will take it through the next service with KIA and then probably remap it +20%. 20% would be more than sufficient for me and insurance would cover it no problem. I find the auto transmission on the diesel actually works quite well it seems to change just at the right time but just lacks a tad more power.

 

[Benno1969]

Thanks to J Jay I managed to find this UK section. So I am little bit late to the party. I got mine last March. It has been a lovely since. Its white pearl and red interior. I got the V6. Done some obligatory rebadging, and changed the exhaust.
I am based in London and I only seen 2 since I got the car.

Hi guys, I've seen a few in Grantham where I live. Get mine Tues and can't wait !!

 

[Benno1969]

Hi mtucker
The cars are rare and diesel even more so. But I like that about the car.
Yes, I have considered remap, as I think it would be very beneficial on this car. Warranty is the preventing thing at moment so also considered a race chip, so can remove for servicing.

Try tdi tuning box. Upto 428bhp and no evidence of tuning and its removable for servicing etc. I will update when I get mine. Just need to not let the missis find out

 

[G-224077]

I have been tempting to get a tuning box (TDI , racechip ,JB4 ) as well for a while now. Word of caution it would be better to either upgrade spark plugs or regap existing ones to avoid misfire as it has been widely reported with with owners in the US, albeit fuel quality in UK and Europe is as minimum is 95 octane whearas in the US is could be anywhere from 88 octane upwards ...
Car is going to dealer for turbo actuators replacement as they are squeaky..only then I might consider tuning options ..

 

[JJay]

Hi guys, I've seen a few in Grantham where I live. Get mine Tues and can't wait !!

Grantham is just up the road from me, I'm in Peterborough. As of yet I've only seen one other on the road whilst on a weekend away in Cornwall. Would be great to see some locally.

 

[Benno1969]

We'll have to organise a get together at some point.

 

[mtuckeruk]

Try tdi tuning box. Upto 428bhp and no evidence of tuning and its removable for servicing etc. I will update when I get mine. Just need to not let the missis find out

428bhp out of 200bhp engine? thought they can get +- 265bhp max , will look into it after the next service

 

[Benno1969]

428bhp out of 200bhp engine? thought they can get +- 265bhp max , will look into it after the next service

Sorry mate, that's for 3.3L. Not sure about 2.0 but will be about right at 265bhp

 

[mtuckeruk]

I managed 200bhp out of my vauxhall insignia on an economy remap, so I expect to get alot more from my Stinger, was kindda hoping HillEagle would remap his first. I have had a few encounters with a few cars for a quick pull and lost out on about 50% out of the time. Just need that little bit extra. Although I do find the diesel pulls well mid range acceleration. Note...if you put quad tips on your diesel expect the racers to race you...

 

[Goatwidcoat]

I have had my red Stinger GTS for around 3 weeks now and I am based in Nottingham. Love it so much! I had a diesel Kia C'eed GT Line S which was a brilliant car which I traded in towards this. It was a company car and after two years I loved it so much I bought it off them and ran for another 18 months. 64k faultless miles and with the level of tech you get I had no worries at all in staying with Kia. Never had to call on the warranty to know whether it is worth the paper it is written on which is a good thing I suppose!

Regarding remaps, I had my C'eed remapped (not a tuning box) from 134bhp to an alleged 160-170bhp. Never been on a dyno so cannot say for sure but fuel economy was the exact same and it had much better mid range punch. If they had a 2.0l diesel in the C'eed it would have been perfect IMO. It had two services at the dealers and they never spotted anything but then they did not apply any updates to the ECU to spot it or faults to check. It had this remap for 25k miles and no issues whatsoever.

I had no plans to get rid of the C'eed at all and was intending to take it to 100k miles and beyond but I am turning 30 soon, kids will inevitably be on the cards in the not too distant future and with the world turning boring and electric this is my first and possibly last chance to own something sporty, fast and petrol. I have been doing around 16k miles a year before Covid and even if this returns to normal, the extra servicing and fuel bills are worth it.

The level of tech and performance is unrivalled and it looks fantastic. My wife is pleased that so far it only seems to be a guy magnet in car parks haha. It has the Kia badges still on it but people still ask what it is or do a double take when walking past my house. It's quite amusing! Hoping the attention doesn't bring attempted theft and vandalism though! Brand snobs really are missing out but here in the UK we are obsessed with BMW/Audi/Mercedes. Don't get me wrong - they make fantastic cars but the premium you have to pay in servicing and optional extras is criminal. My friends C300 had endless electrical faults and anothers 320i has been in BMW every few months the last year and both of these cars were under 3 years old. I would hate to own one out of warranty and Kia more than delivers here. Everything is driven towards 2-4 years leases now so they don't care if they go bang afterwards. I prefer to own my car and having a warranty that lasts for more than 3 years is definite peace of mind.

There is another red Kia Stinger (not the GTS, not sure if 2.0 petrol or 2.2 diesel) around the corner from me but I have never seen it being driven and the other day as I was walking out my front door somebody in a white GTS drove by, spotted mine and gave me a thumbs up which my wife found very amusing! Maybe Nottingham is a hot spot but I have not seen any others.

I do Nottingham to Manchester and back once a week and on these runs, cruising along at 70-75 I average 32-35mpg which is not bad at all for an engine of this size and performance. Floor it or drive it around town and it is easily low 20's or high teens. She can be incredibly thirsty when called upon but as a fast motorway cruiser is excellent.

Only thing I am tempted by is a slightly louder exhaust but no YouTube video compares to hearing it in person regarding sound and most importantly drone. Finding a UK video of the exhaust too is even harder. Although my 2019 brought about an upgraded exhaust it also brought in the stupid Gas Particulate Filters (GPF) which mute the sound. I think my neighbour gets upset enough when I start up at 5am for my Manchester trip even with this muted exhaust haha. He will not be welcoming a new exhaust! If this car had an exhaust that matched the performance it would be perfect. My friends RS5 sounds the business but has zero tech and costs an eye watering amount more!

 

[mtuckeruk]

yep i kind of envy the 3.3 litre petrol, just destroys anything that tries to race it, i would recommend the rebadge as that makes most people wonder what it is and inquire. I just ordered the vinyl overlays so you can just return it back to normal if needed. I had a lady photograph the car and badge whilst my missus was still in the car...lol. GF was like WTF! Fuel consumption on the GTS sounds harsh but if you doing low mileage its worth it I reckon. Quick note if you see a Stinger , the 2.0 or 3.3 will have quad exhaust and diesel will have dual exhaust, easy way to tell. Although saying that I hacked my diesel with a quad exhaust so you cant actually tell but would expect most owners would not change the diffuser to mask the difference. I still plan to remap my Stinger diesel after next service , think i will probably be the first to do this as I cant seem to find anyone who has done it , so it should be interesting to see the results but my Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 diesel was remapped from 160 to 192bhp on a simple eco remap and it gave the car a whole new feel and also better economy. I still have the Insignia diesel and drive it now and again. Its 192bhp and with the Stinger at 200bhp I can still tell the Stinger is much faster mostly because of the automatic transmission, it pulls much faster at speed than the Insignia, both cars weigh approx. the same. The auto trans works well for the diesel version. But yes the Stinger is certainly an eye turner. Had my GFs mate spot the car in the driveway and he changed his order on his new Audi to try match the same colour as the Stinger Chroma Red, he was amazed by the colour and tried to change his order from grey to the the red

 

[Steve100]

I have a 2.5 Mazda 6 wanted more power after 2 2.2 Mazda 6 diesels so looking at a ex demo v6 stinger what advice and things to look out for local Kia dealers don’t seem that enthusiastic?why not to pleased about the service iintervals

 

[Niall Etchingham]

HI All
I am based near Poole Dorset and own the 2ltr. Pearlescent white petrol, with all the bells and whistles. Fantastic car, which I have owned since March 2020.
I have also not seen another one in this area, which I am quite pleased about.
I do think the servicing schedule OTT. Unfortunately one has to pay up and look happy to fulfill the warranty.