Stinger as a Winter Daily Driver

[Crisis]

I'd touched on this in another thread where I spoke abut how impressed I was with my Stinger, as I'm part way through my second winter with this car. I've put good winter tires on it and it's had no trouble handling our Canadian Prairie winters. Right now, things are bitterly cold and regardless of whether streets are ice/snow covered or clear, all roads are slippery. The Stinger just digs in and goes. I've been tempted to turn off traction control just to have more fun, but have decided better of it and have made due with a half second of sliding sideways before the traction control kicks in.

Just thought I'd post the weather from earlier this morning. My Stinger lives outside and has had no issues starting in this weather, though I must confess to using the block heater these last couple of nights. I have no doubt the car would still start without being plugged in, but it's certainly easier on the car when the oil is somewhat warmed. The UVO remote start is a blessing in this weather, but it is worth noting that it won't work if the hood is ajar to allow you to access the block heater plug with an extension cord.

 

[Soca Boy]

I guess I'll take Edmonton -45, I might get winter tires for mine, for now my poor Honda as to deal with winter.

 

[eflyguy]

it won't work if the hood is ajar

I ran a tender cable back behind the hood, between it and the plastic below the windscreen.

 

[Silvermanor]

Yep, I call the Stinger the workhorse. It is flawless in the winter. It hauls ass on snow covered streets without much drama. Comfortable, warm, convenient, and has a great drivetrain/AWD system.

 

[SteveCo]

I feel your pain - we're supposed to start warming up this Sunday, and will be back into positive temps next week. I keep the car in an attached garage, which though unheated is insulated and maintains a temperature considerably above ambient. If I had to keep it outside regularly, I'd have purchased one of the DEFA block heaters to ease the pain.

I've only had one occasion so far to start the car after it overnighted in a windswept hotel parking lot at about -35 (actual), without block heater - it fired immediately, and warmed up quickly. That huge AGM battery is a welcome addition at these temps, along with the heated seats and steering wheel.

Best winter car I've ever had.

 

[Silvermanor]

I feel your pain - we're supposed to start warming up this Sunday, and will be back into positive temps next week. I keep the car in an attached garage, which though unheated is insulated and maintains a temperature considerably above ambient. If I had to keep it outside regularly, I'd have purchased one of the DEFA block heaters to ease the pain.

I've only had one occasion so far to start the car after it overnighted in a windswept hotel parking lot at about -35 (actual), without block heater - it fired immediately, and warmed up quickly. That huge AGM battery is a welcome addition at these temps, along with the heated seats and steering wheel.

Best winter car I've ever had.

My factory block heater cable is still in the box. Never used. The car never sits outside overnight. The heated steering wheel and seats in this car are top notch. When your ass is literally burning while its -35 outside, thats a good car.

 

[Crisis]

I ran a tender cable back behind the hood, between it and the plastic below the windscreen.

Excellent suggestion. I just routed mine that way and am using it tonight.

 

[Silvermanor]

Dosent your car have it built into the bumper with the flap? The factory block heater routes to the lower grille and has a flap that closes when it not needed. The Block heater cable plugs into the opening in the bumper.

 

[SteveCo]

Dosent your car have it built into the bumper with the flap? The factory block heater routes to the lower grille and has a flap that closes when it not needed. The Block heater cable plugs into the opening in the bumper.

I'd be interested to see a picture of that. No block heater on my car, and there aren't any flaps/openings in the bumper cover or grill that I'm aware of either.

 

[Silvermanor]

I'd be interested to see a picture of that. No block heater on my car, and there aren't any flaps/openings in the bumper cover or grill that I'm aware of either.

Ill take a pic when I get home from work. You might have it because I'm pretty sure all dealers in Calgary install it before selling the car. Its a very clean install and you may not notice it unless you looked.

 

[Revvdmedia]

The Stinger is an excellent winter car, especially when paired with winter tires, and the FREE cell phone remote start system. I have only found three real negatives with the Stinger in winter.

1. The remote start does not turn on heated seats, just such an oversight
2. The wipers freeze up often, leaving smears, and I've found the rain sensing mode pretty useless in winter
3. The gas door takes a few tries to open sometimes, I'm always afraid it's going to freeze up.

Other than that, with all the creature comforts, the Stinger was great for winter.

 

[Crisis]

Dosent your car have it built into the bumper with the flap? The factory block heater routes to the lower grille and has a flap that closes when it not needed. The Block heater cable plugs into the opening in the bumper.

Nope. Most of the other Kias and Hyundais sold by the local delears here have them, but not my Stinger. I was expecting it to have that adaptor port somewhere in the lower fascia but it doesn't. Then again, I didn't look for it until I'd had the car for 8 months and wanted to plug it in and, by that time, wasn't about to go back to the dealer bitching about it.

 

[Crisis]

The Stinger is an excellent winter car, especially when paired with winter tires, and the FREE cell phone remote start system. I have only found three real negatives with the Stinger in winter.

1. The remote start does not turn on heated seats, just such an oversight
2. The wipers freeze up often, leaving smears, and I've found the rain sensing mode pretty useless in winter
3. The gas door takes a few tries to open sometimes, I'm always afraid it's going to freeze up.

Other than that, with all the creature comforts, the Stinger was great for winter.

I agree and have experienced all three of the issues you noted. It takes a bit of pounding with the side of my fist to get the fuel filler door to break loose. As mentioned in other threads, it would be nice if you could flip up your wipers without having to go through the process of parking them in the vertical position first.

 

[moinmoin]

The gas door

In respect to the gas door, you may want to consider putting a "small D" rubber seal around the top half of the door opening. I did it to keep the dirt out of the gas compartment, but the seal also works in a spring like fashion when operating the remote opener. No pounding required,
Using -40C /-45C rated window washer fluid throughout the year keeps everything streak free on the windshield.
This is my third winter with this car. Great car.

 

[Revvdmedia]

Using -40C /-45C rated window washer fluid throughout the year keeps everything streak free on the windshield.
This is my third winter with this car. Great car.

I have always used the low temperature wiper fluid. The issue I have is that snow and ice seems to accumulate on the wipers and never comes off. I was with the crowd here thinking that the wipers park too low, below the heat on the windshield, but the other day I noticed my wife's Santa Fe parks the wipers very low too, below the defroster vent on the windshield, yet her wipers have never streaked as bad as my Stinger, and we use the same blades.

 

[Crisis]

My wiper issue tends to be one of lack of contact with the windshield on the passenger side (luckily). Even after some manual flexing of the wiper blade to make sure all caked on ice is clear, the wiper still doesn't make proper contact for a wide swath of the passenger side of the windshield. Definitely not a wiper fluid issue - it gets sprayed but then just sits up there, unspread by the wiper.

 

[RedCal]

Historically I've use two set of wiper blades... a "winter" set that has the boot to cover/ keep the seams from freezing, and come spring I switch to a "summer" set, (so got 2 "years" out of them ) but I have switched to the Bosch Icon blades that are "hingeless" and they work well all year round. Plus I use the -40 Rain-X washer fluid, and use Aquapel on the glass (I haven't done that on my stinger yet)

 

[Silverghost]

Historically I've use two set of wiper blades... a "winter" set that has the boot to cover/ keep the seams from freezing, and come spring I switch to a "summer" set, (so got 2 "years" out of them ) but I have switched to the Bosch Icon blades that are "hingeless" and they work well all year round. Plus I use the -40 Rain-X washer fluid, and use Aquapel on the glass (I haven't done that on my stinger yet)

What type of Bosch blades and size did you buy? Canadian tire has different attachment options. I would be interested on buying a set...
Thx

 

[RedCal]

I use the Bosch "ICON" blades 18A, and 26A


Bosch Icon Wiper Blade | Canadian Tire
Bosch Icon Wiper Blade | Canadian Tire

 

[Sybaritic]

Did you have to buy the block heater as a dealer-installed accessory? Do you have a pic of where the plug hangs out?