Kia Stinger vs Alfa Romeo Giulia for MotorTrend Car of the Year

Kia Stinger

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And the winner is...

It’s become de rigueur to declare driving dead. If we are headed for autonomous transport, ask the pundits, why bother having fun behind the wheel? Just clamber into your soulless people hauler, select “Stultifying Ambient Tedium” on your Pandora playlist, and tune out.

At Motor Trend, dear reader, we are not ready to give up the fight even if the morning commute is more slog than slalom, more torture than torque. We contend that a schlep through shoreline traffic should not extinguish individuality.

Driving great distances because you can is a deep-rooted American tradition. It is the declaration of independence of the industrial revolution. It is our automotive destiny. We embrace the decreasing-radius corner, the back road’s unexpected undulation, the hairpin with a dusting of gravel at the apex.

At a time when the formulaic commoditization of cars is not only expected but also a standard feature, we rebel. We are not ready to relegate our cars to the status quo of an A-to-B anachronism of conveyance. We believe in the necessity of passion and finding your heart’s desire. There is still time—time to instill joy, lust, rivalry, and good cheer.

For those who won’t settle for ubiquity, we present the 2018 Motor Trend Car of the Year: the Alfa Romeo Giulia.

No less a luminary than Henry Ford, the inventor of the mass-production automobile, once said: “When I see an Alfa Romeo go by, I tip my hat.”

Mr. Ford knew there was something special about the car that carries the cross-and-serpent badge, the company where Enzo Ferrari proudly got his start in racing before hanging his own shingle. Read more...

Alfa_Romeo-Giulia-2016-1024-01.jpg
 
It's definitely a very sweet vehicle. If I were to decide to lease, it might make my list. To buy, it starts where the Stinger tops out, and the only reason I'm considering the top Stinger (GT2) is because of , everything, plus that red nappa leather. That starting model is a full second slower to 60mph than the Stinger. It's much smaller. I did sit in a Quadrofoglio at the car show, though, and with that models very thin front seats, rear seat room is better than I thought. The base model, though, has much thicker front seats that eat into rear legroom. Also, to me, reliability is not a solved issue until you have years of verified good reliability. The Giulia will always be in the equation just for the performance. I'd love to test drive one. My sweet spot is under $40,000 though. I could do more, and I may, for the right vehicle, but the base Giulia isn't drawing me to do so as of this moment.
 
It's definitely a very sweet vehicle. If I were to decide to lease, it might make my list. To buy, it starts where the Stinger tops out, and the only reason I'm considering the top Stinger (GT2) is because of , everything, plus that red nappa leather. That starting model is a full second slower to 60mph than the Stinger. It's much smaller. I did sit in a Quadrofoglio at the car show, though, and with that models very thin front seats, rear seat room is better than I thought. The base model, though, has much thicker front seats that eat into rear legroom. Also, to me, reliability is not a solved issue until you have years of verified good reliability. The Giulia will always be in the equation just for the performance. I'd love to test drive one. My sweet spot is under $40,000 though. I could do more, and I may, for the right vehicle, but the base Giulia isn't drawing me to do so as of this moment.
Yeah, it's a real head-turning car. No doubt. There's nothing else out there that looks like it. And some people think it's an exotic car - it looks expensive. But, for the price, and the unpredictable reliability - the Stinger is hard to beat...
 
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Admitted, the Giulia is also a quite pretty car. From the reviews it seems to be a nice performance car with great handling. Alfas have always been emotional cars and the Giulia has the same genes. But looking back they always suffered from quality and reliability issues. The same can be said about Jaguar but since Jag belongs to Tata their quality has improved significantly. I have serious doubts about Alfa´s ability to achieve a similar improvement. With the Stinger you get almost the same but with much better quality. Just imagine Alfa offering a 7 year guarantee like Kia - dream on :D
 
I am on the fence. I test drove a Giulia and thought it was nice (everything is nice compared to my 2004 Sonata). The look and style is awesome. But I am leaning towards the Stinger do to the back seat room and hopefully the extras (360, heated back seats, wireless charger) that might come in a year. Then there is the warranty. Can't go wrong with Kia's.

Only if they made a car that had the front look like the Giulia and the back seat dimensions of the Stinger.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
Not a fan of the triangular grill.
 
Seriously, from the esteemed house of Fiat-Chrysler? This thing is ugly. So I wanted to compare it to Stinger, and this is what came up on my monitor:

upload_2017-11-28_16-31-39.webp

This part of the acticle, together with the Stinger ad came up together, as if...

Well, look at the numbers, I don't know why anybody could get so excited over this car. It does not compare to the Stinger, maybe to 4 cyl, 2.0, but never to the GT. IMO.
 
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Only a consideration if I could suddenly afford the Quadrifoglio! It just looks naked without the little clover leaf and the wheel vents. And good point about the front plate, Chris.
 
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From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
Need to add Motor Trend to the title.

The Stinger is still in the running for North American Car of the Year. The winner is announced in January at the Detroit auto show.
http://northamericancaroftheyear.or...ty-and-truck-of-the-year-finalists-announced/

2018 Finalists:
Stinger
Accord
Camry
Thank you for the suggested. I updated the title. Now that's really nice to see the Stinger right up there with the usual Accord and Camry for North American Car of the Year. :)
 
I drove the lower model Giulia... to be honest I wasnt all that impressed. The handling is nimble and it looks nice, but it didnt feel like a luxury car really, and it almost felt too light. There was not enough rear leg room for an adult to sit comfortably. It's great for a single person or couple without kids etc, but I would get a 3 series or 4 series BMW over it. Just personal preference but my sweet spot for a car is something between the size of an Audi A5 and Hyundai G80.
 
I drove the lower model Giulia... to be honest I wasnt all that impressed. The handling is nimble and it looks nice, but it didnt feel like a luxury car really, and it almost felt too light. There was not enough rear leg room for an adult to sit comfortably. It's great for a single person or couple without kids etc, but I would get a 3 series or 4 series BMW over it. Just personal preference but my sweet spot for a car is something between the size of an Audi A5 and Hyundai G80.
That's interesting to hear. I never thought the Giulia was intended as a luxury car but I haven't done much research on it. Is it supposed to be? It looks much smaller than the Stinger. I know Kia is focusing on luxury for the Stinger so I imagine the Kia will offer the more luxurious experience.

I notice you mentioned the Hyundai G80. Is it still Hyundai there? Here the G80 is sold under the new Genesis brand...
 
That's interesting to hear. I never thought the Giulia was intended as a luxury car but I haven't done much research on it. Is it supposed to be? It looks much smaller than the Stinger. I know Kia is focusing on luxury for the Stinger so I imagine the Kia will offer the more luxurious experience.

I notice you mentioned the Hyundai G80. Is it still Hyundai there? Here the G80 is sold under the new Genesis brand...


Yeah sorry it is a Genesis but in my area still sold at the Hyundai dealer. We don't have a separate Genesis dealer yet.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
Yeah sorry it is a Genesis but in my area still sold at the Hyundai dealer. We don't have a separate Genesis dealer yet.
Yes, yes, same here. :) Genesis dealers are "coming soon"...
 
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I think the car is pretty good looking, but directly from the front it looks a little walleyed with the headlights being at the very edges of the hood.

Also, with Fiat having some of the worst reliability ratings around, Alfa's crap warranty system and the general blah of Fiat Chrysler all made me stay away. Plus a number of tests noted things like the head units crashing and rebooting and other niggles. It's always key to remember that apart from a few mags who do long term 6 months-1 year tests like Automobile and Car & Driver, maybe a few others, these reviewers drive the cars for at most a few hours a day for, at most, 2-3 days. Even the long term tests aren't that long compared to ownership length. I've owned my Golf for just over a year and have put 18k+ miles on it with no issues, but I guarantee you in the next year or two they'll start piling up and quick with VW's rep.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
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