Savage Review of the 2022 2.5T

[andybob]

LSD (Limited Slip Differential) or stiffer sways? The car is soft in stock form. IME the sways are a good way to go about fixing this. LSD (Limited Slip Differential) would help even more, but the excessive lean and lack of front grip are some of the primary factors IME.

I disagree about the sways. After a couple thousand miles in my 2.5T, I find the side to side motion and stability pretty well controlled in this car. I definitely feel the OEM all season tires hold the car back significantly when it comes to cornering. With the added weight from the 3.3, I could see the need for stiffer sways for the added front end weight.

My only gripes about the ride is I feel the rear shocks are under dampened. The compression feels good, but I find the rear to be unsettled after big bumps from being under dampened.

While the review could be seen as a bit harsh, I definitely agree the 2.5T Stinger is a “sport styled” GT vehicle suited best for soaking up the miles. I find my car very comfortable on longer trips and it really does hammer away the miles easily.

 

[5tinger]

Objection! I find it to have just the right amount of power. Now a hellcat on the other hand... But you are right, some people are will never touch the limit of the 3.3s power just because they live in an area where that's impossible. That's a shame honestly.

Most vehicles on the roads are SUVs with naturally aspirated 2.0L engines making around 150hp

The Stinger has almost 400hp and most of its power is tuned to deliver in the low end which makes it feel even more powerful than it actually is.

 

[RM7]

I disagree about the sways. After a couple thousand miles in my 2.5T, I find the side to side motion and stability pretty well controlled in this car. I definitely feel the OEM all season tires hold the car back significantly when it comes to cornering. With the added weight from the 3.3, I could see the need for stiffer sways for the added front end weight.

I had sways on a 2010 camaro SS. At that point I realized how much my WRX swayed side to side, it was pretty bad IMO, but from there, it was hard for me to go "backwards" to something that leaned so badly. My BMW leaned pretty badly, even with the eletronic shocks. Some of the main reasons were that they did not make sport-suspension available for the AWD cars and they lifted the AWD cars relative to the RWD cars to make room for the drive shafts in the front of the car. So your 4-series or 3-series AWD version was a little more like a subaru outback, with the wheel-gap and how they fit the AWD in there relative to the ride height. All of those things contributed to it being a real sloppy vehicle as far as handling...and then there was the terrible BMW electronic steering. I also had an older luxury mercedes C class and it too was pretty soft, but it at least was meant to be soft IMO, vs. the BMW sport-line with electronic suspension. BMW is finally offering sport suspension on AWD 3-series chassis now, but it's been years to get to that point. I modded mine with a shock upgrade that made them stiffer, ACS lowering springs specifically tuned to the car and config, and stiffer sways. That made for a pretty good handling package where the shocks were in line with the springs, etc. Then I got a Camaro 1LE, which is just absolute amazingballs as far as handling. While I didn't expect or want a Stinger to feel the same, it's kind of like going back to square one when you drive any other vehicle. You quickly realize how much body-roll there is and how soft they are. To put it simply, the Stinger is pretty soft, it has a good amount of body roll, the stock sways illustrate this pretty clearly. It's not just the OEM all season tires, they are absolutely ridiculously skinny for a car of this weight. I also had a Elantra GT N-line and way lighter, it came with the same width tires as this Stinger. That car was much better "buttoned down" than the Stinger. That's not limited to Kia, BMW did the same thing with skinny tires too (one of the other things I upgraded there too).

But with a few mods, the sways, the tires, the stinger can be pretty fun and start to handle pretty decent. IMO, this is better bang for the buck than LSD, but to each their own.

And yes, I agree that the lower end models are generally going to be softer, however, I'd rather have a sportier version of this than the gas-hungry 3.3, when I have a 455hp monster in the garage for my fun days. The 2.5 is plenty fun and comfortable for cruising, especially since I'm not lowering it or stiffening the springs.

 

[stoopid]

... I'll just buy an old Crown Vic, remove the back seats, weld some metal, and ghetto rig me a useful pickup. God bless welding.

This is definitely the "Most Florida Thing Posted on the Forum" thus far in April.

 

[AtomicGTL]

I mean, I never buy a car at the top of what is affordable to me. I could afford an S5 and objectively I think it is a better car than the Stinger in many ways (not all, but many). So there is some price differential for which I would take the S5 over the Stinger… but my Stingers have been more than $20k less than a comparable S5 and at that savings I’d take the Stinger every time!

I tested the s5, although its nice. Stinger felt nicer and looked x100 better. Also faster.

 

[andyecon]

I tested the s5, although its nice. Stinger felt nicer and looked x100 better. Also faster.

Yeah, I think the looks are very personal and I like the Stinger more sometimes, the S5 more other times.

In terms of performance, I think speed is pretty close between the two, at least for my purposes. But when I test drove the S5 it definitely did better on the crap roads in my area than the Stinger does. That said, I think I’m going to save my money, keep the Stinger, and put it on 18’’ winter wheels next year.

That said, if I get a good price on the Stinger I might just be able to convince myself to get a used S7 if one pops up!