Safety Features

[MarkyMark]

Dear Kia Motors,

Safety Features Move to Standard Equipment in 2019:

For 2018, the ramp to full production, enthusiasts purchasing the Stinger, you can pull off charging $2,000 for your safety features package (Drive Wise). However, with Toyota and others pushing the envelope on including major safety features as standard offerings within a multitude of vehicles, I highly suggest 2019 be the year the Stinger receives FCWS and Blind Spot monitoring as standard equipment.

Rain sensing, lane departure and other solutions can be wrapped up into the Premium offerings.

Safety features are viewed more and more as check box items - simply gotta have them. Charging $2k for them is going to leave a bad taste in would-be buyers months, when so many competitors are including this safety tech as standard equipment.

Regards,

~Mark

 

[Kia Stinger]

Dear Kia Motors,

Safety Features Move to Standard Equipment in 2019:

For 2018, the ramp to full production, enthusiasts purchasing the Stinger, you can pull off charging $2,000 for your safety features package (Drive Wise). However, with Toyota and others pushing the envelope on including major safety features as standard offerings within a multitude of vehicles, I highly suggest 2019 be the year the Stinger receives FCWS and Blind Spot monitoring as standard equipment.

Rain sensing, lane departure and other solutions can be wrapped up into the Premium offerings.

Safety features are viewed more and more as check box items - simply gotta have them. Charging $2k for them is going to leave a bad taste in would-be buyers months, when so many competitors are including this safety tech as standard equipment.

Regards,

~Mark

So interesting. It used to be the other way around - where Kia was offering all the options and everyone asked the other brands to do the same...

 

[Waynerm002]

So true, they seemed to have let the others catch up to them with the options. Now with the release of the Accord and Camry, they are targeting performance. Hyundai added their new 8 speed transmission to the Sonata but only on the top model, I’m hoping KIA is tuning a performance version of the Optima with that 8 speed and as a benefit to the Stinger, we get a more potent 2.0T.

 

[Kia Stinger]

So true, they seemed to have let the others catch up to them with the options. Now with the release of the Accord and Camry, they are targeting performance. Hyundai added their new 8 speed transmission to the Sonata but only on the top model, I’m hoping KIA is tuning a performance version of the Optima with that 8 speed and as a benefit to the Stinger, we get a more potent 2.0T.

Yeah, at the very least, the 2.0T Stinger could use some more power. I can see why they may not do the same for the Optima as they won't people buying the Stinger. But, you never know. I'm sure they just want the Optima to be competitive in it's class...

 

[ScottE]

I saw somewhere that the crash test ratings for the Stinger were 5/5 with AEB and the other optional safety features, and 3/5 without. I'm a bit surprised so much weight is placed on automated safety features, honestly - in a head-on collision, for example, it's all about the inherent strength and design of the car.

 

[Chris]

I saw somewhere that the crash test ratings for the Stinger were 5/5 with AEB and the other optional safety features, and 3/5 without. I'm a bit surprised so much weight is placed on automated safety features, honestly - in a head-on collision, for example, it's all about the inherent strength and design of the car.

But if the automatic saftey features prevent the collision altogether or make it so the collision happens at 15 MPH instead of 60 MPH, which is safer? Which crash would you rather be in? I for one will never buy another car without all the saftey stuff. It seems like a no brainer. The gov must think so to as they are due to be mandatory equipment in a few years.

 

[ScottE]

Oh yeah, I totally understand all that - it's a no brainer that the safety features improve things, but I think that should be kept as a separate rating from structural integrity/safety.

 

[Jayce]

Oh yeah, I totally understand all that - it's a no brainer that the safety features improve things, but I think that should be kept as a separate rating from structural integrity/safety.

I can understand what you're saying, but they probably don't want to convolute things by adding a separate rating. If you hear that a car has 5 stars, you know that is one of the most safe vehicles. I honestly prefer the way they're doing it. If a vehicle is less structurally sound but avoids every accident compared to one that's more structurally sound and never avoids any, which of those is actually more desirable? I think that's what they're going for.