Motor Trend Kia Stinger GT-Line Review

[Guzman]

2022 Kia Stinger GT Line Pros and Cons Review

Not the most in-depth review. Sort of mixed, some praise, some criticisms. Performance in an improvement over the old 2.0 especially since it is more efficient, but a bit slower than I expected.

 

[JSolo]

Wonder if the awd would yield better times. I must say the stock bridgestone tires (re97as-02) are complete garbage. They did comment the traction control being intrusive. Stickier rubber should fix that, no?

 

[Guzman]

It might, but less with the added weight it would be a wash. AWD is probably more of an advantage with the 3.3T. The skidpad and figure 8 performance was pretty poor, which makes me think those tires are as you described.
I thought performance would be closer to the K5 GT, but with more weight, I guess it is where it should be.
Kia estimated 5.2 for 0-60, which I thought was quite close to the GT, but this shows around a second between the two, which is a nice gap in order for some to justify the move up.

 

[JSolo]

I did one trip on my car on some marginally technical roads with the re97as-02's. I've been driving/riding this road for 2+ decades on both 2 and 4 wheels. Very familiar with it. Anyways, the car just didn't feel right. Too squishy, not confidence inspiring. I wasn't even pushing it hard. Within 2 or 3 weeks of ownership, the tires in my sig went on. MUCH MUCH better.

 

[RM7]

AWD always improves 0-60, sometimes it's enough to improve quarter mile if the HP and TQ levels are within a certain range-most of the time it is slower though with any significant prep like tires, but it will never improve rolling acceleration tests. If you want more acceleration at lower speeds, it does that fairly well. If you want more acceleration at higher speeds...you need more on tap.

The reason it always improves 0-60 is it can allow you to use the engine as a fly-wheel, storing energy to release it and not break traction. Not the best thing for the car though...

 

[stoopid]

Stickier tires are going to yield the greatest improvement in traction. Suspension upgrades will help when pushing at the limits, but that limit is low if the tires are crap.

 

[SEA Stinger]

I agree 100 percent about how bad the Bridgestone Turanza tires are on the GT-Line. Ditched mine within a week and replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4's. The Michelins make the GT-Line handle and ride so much better!

 

[JSolo]

^^What size did you go with?

 

[SEA Stinger]

^^What size did you go with?

I bought P225/45R18's.

 

[DTD]

2022 Kia Stinger GT Line Pros and Cons Review

Not the most in-depth review. Sort of mixed, some praise, some criticisms. Performance in an improvement over the old 2.0 especially since it is more efficient, but a bit slower than I expected.

Guzman, Yes the very limited review did not shine to brightly. I don't think Kia wants to give them a 22 GT-line to instrument test. As for the numbers it is slower than it should be. It seems to perform somewhat like the 2022 Maxima. I agree with the article 39K for this car is a no sale for many. As Motor Trend mentioned if this motor would have been in the base Stinger from the beginning it may have sold very well, certainly better than the 2.0 which just didn't have the power to move that much weight. When you have 4 door family sedans considerably faster than the 2.0 motor that does not go well with the sporting pretentions of the Stinger GT line although the Accord 2.0 is still faster than the new GT line. But the GT line looks good.