Is the Kia Stinger GT a viable Golf R alternative?

[Manaz]

Is the Kia Stinger GT a Viable Golf R Alternative?

 

[GotStung?]

Oddly enough i was cross shopping these 2 cars and the KIA dealerships is also a VW dealership so it helped me drive down the cost of my GT2 i am picking up later this week

 

[SteveCo]

I looked at the Golf R, the Honda Civic R, the Audi S5 Sportback, and the Infiniti Q60S Redpsport as alternatives. All very good cars, and covering a large swath of buyers and market niches. Made my choice with the Stinger GT Limited (Canadian market) - still smiling ...

In my opinion, price should be one of your last consideration. Get what makes you happy.

 

[Manaz]

I'd love for price to be the last consideration, but a cap on what I could spend was a serious part of the overall purchasing decision.

I'd love to have cross-shopped an Audi A5 as an example, but it was another $20k on top of the price of the top-down Stinger GT, and the S5 is another $20k again on top of that...

 

[turboAWD]

I looked at Golf R (none available when I was test-driving, and +5K markup turned me off), S3 - sort of same as Golf R, but with a bit more legroom, but shorter warranty, Q50 S/RS (seats were bad for me), Charger SRT (too big / too Chrysler for my liking, hard to find with adjustable suspension). My wife ended up getting a '16 GTI (base) for an around-town car a month later. I like the suspension MORE for sporty driving / short distances (the thing corners well!), but overall, love the Stinger better..

 

[Manaz]

S3 - sort of same as Golf R, but with a bit more legroom

Interesting, as they're both made on the same platform (MQB), and I had assumed were basically the same car with different trim and engine fitment.

 

[SteveCo]

I'd love for price to be the last consideration, but a cap on what I could spend was a serious part of the overall purchasing decision.

Fair enough. Myself, I've found that narrows down fairly quickly to a car or cars that I am seriously interested in. What was a strange instance in this case was the Stinger as on offer well below the immediate competitors, and that was a bonus more than anything else.

 

[turboAWD]

Interesting, as they're both made on the same platform (MQB), and I had assumed were basically the same car with different trim and engine fitment.

I think the seats in the cars were of different thicknesses, and the total body is a bit longer on the S3, so they can push the rear seats back a bit more. For example, if you put the seat in the Golf R all the way back, it will just about (or actually, I forget) touch the rear seat. The S3 has a bit more room that way. The body is longer, I believe, so they can stretch things out a bit more, overall. Or, I'm totally wrong

 

[Marcin]

Actually sold my 2013 Golf R for a 2019 GT2 AWD as I liked the options, feel, usability, and overall look of the car more. I haven't driven the newer R and excluding the modding options, feel like the Stinger is a much better car overall, granted at a higher price for the GT2. GT would be a closer comparison with the options but as far as usability, the Stinger is just larger overall. Too early to talk about durability but warranty alone lasts longer than the VW one. The R is a great car overall and combines the sport and comfort balance well but just never felt special. The Stinger has that same kind of comfort and sport balance but also feels more special than the R.