Stinger GT+ Nitpicks and Rants

[Revvdmedia]

This will be my first winter with this car and we'll see. We get more ice than snow. Others have said the fuel door freezes shut (oh THAT would pee me off for sure, especially considering the small tank and what feels like constant need to fill up) and someone is also saying here the door button can freeze :/

I worked with a guy years ago and he and I both owned a Ford Probe GT. That car also had a remote release for the fuel door. He offered a great piece of advise - if you wash your car in winter, make sure you park it somewhere heated otherwise your gas door may freeze shut.

I found an alternative measure is if you wash the car at a wand wash, use the air dryer after you're done to blow air out of the gas door, around the doors seals and door jams, hatch...Keeps from tearing things when it freezes.

 

[Stinger Girl]

I worked with a guy years ago and he and I both owned a Ford Probe GT. That car also had a remote release for the fuel door. He offered a great piece of advise - if you wash your car in winter, make sure you park it somewhere heated otherwise your gas door may freeze shut.

I found an alternative measure is if you wash the car at a wand wash, use the air dryer after you're done to blow air out of the gas door, around the doors seals and door jams, hatch...Keeps from tearing things when it freezes.

Unfortunately I don't have a garage so there will be water intrusion no matter what. Someone mentioned a silicone that can be put around the perimeter of the gas door but I can't find it now. Do you know what it is?

 

[westcoastGT]

Unfortunately I don't have a garage so there will be water intrusion no matter what. Someone mentioned a silicone that can be put around the perimeter of the gas door but I can't find it now. Do you know what it is?

you can use WD40 as well

 

[Kiksbut]

Really? Proper lifting of the wipers in the manual. I would have never thought of looking there.
PPF sounds like a good investment for the gas attendant who doesn't know.

What's PPF?

 

[KingLamoni]

What's PPF?

Protective Paint Film or Paint Protective Film. 3M makes a very good one. It can be found on Amazon in various sizes.

 

[BlueByYouGT]

I worked with a guy years ago and he and I both owned a Ford Probe GT. That car also had a remote release for the fuel door. He offered a great piece of advise - if you wash your car in winter, make sure you park it somewhere heated otherwise your gas door may freeze shut.

I found an alternative measure is if you wash the car at a wand wash, use the air dryer after you're done to blow air out of the gas door, around the doors seals and door jams, hatch...Keeps from tearing things when it freezes.

That would work for car washes but not for normal everyday use. If you wake up in the morning and the car has been coated with freezing rain/snow the situation is entirely different.

When I lived in an area that would see frequent inclement winter weather I would apply cooking spray to the door handles and gas door once or twice a week. That completed eliminated anything being frozen shut.

 

[Stinger Girl]

Well I had my first winter experience last night and this morning. Ice is more typical here than snow. Warm yesterday, then rain, then rapid temperature drop into the teens, then sleet, then snow. Result was ice covered roads with moderate snow falling.

No issues driving in comfort mode with stock 18" tires. This morning 14F and car was iced over with several inches of wind blown snow on it. Used remote start and ran the car for 20 minutes (no garage). Windshield cleared and I was able to lift the wipers enough to get the ice off of them without using service mode, check. Mirrors were mobile, check. Fuel door opened, check. I mistakenly hit the hatch release instead of the fuel door button and exclaimed f*ck, as any other car I did this with would dump a ton of snow in the trunk. Not so with this car - not one flake in the car. Nice.

But....visibility at night while it's snowing is a giant F- with these LED head lamps. There was so much reflection off the falling snow I couldn't see....anything, mainly the ROAD. I get the same thing with heavy rain.

Anyone know if it's possible to change the headlamps to halogen lamps? This is the one thing I absolutely can't stand about this car.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Anyone know if it's possible to change the headlamps to halogen lamps? This is the one thing I absolutely can't stand about this car.

Now, that, I did not expect to ever read. Any headlight worth its lumens is going to equally glare off falling snow.

You could get those bright LED light bars that @Chris71 is making; then drive with parking lights only, and I bet those LED bars will be enough light, all down low, and you won't get the back glare. Kia Stinger CK71 Switchback DRLs for Sale

 

[HerbieTheCar]

Anyone know if it's possible to change the headlamps to halogen lamps? This is the one thing I absolutely can't stand about this car.

Haven't had to drive through any snow yet but according to the IIHS, the Stinger's GT2 non-adaptive headlamps scored "Good" and the curve-adaptive ones received "acceptable". You can try to just run the DRL maybe? (not sure if that's possible)

Source: https://www.cars.com/articles/2019-kia-stinger-sticks-it-to-iihs-safety-ratings-402941/

 

[Joe Harris]

I’ve heard the auto start stop kills your turbos after a couple thousand miles?

• Auto Start Stop feature - Needs a permanent toggle off and on. Why does the parking sensors have this feature but not the next button over huh KIA? Maybe you can just turn this off when we are in Sport or Custom automatically and keep it on when in Comfort/Eco?
• Door handle button - Feels like a cheap rubbery mess with a bit of lag when you press it. Why could it not have been made to match the body and be a different material?
  
• Stinger Interior Decal - The car interior has little to no mention of it being a Stinger or a GT variant. I would love to see a bit more attention to detail that indeed you are in a Stinger (Different steering wheel badge? Passenger side emblem? etc.)
• Stinger Exterior Decal - Either get rid of the current KIA logo and replace with the Excellence logo front and back, or remove the front and have the Stinger script logo on the back from the factory. I feel like at least 75% of the Stinger GT community de-badges and swaps these out anyway so it would be a nice community-driven change
• Programming of buttons - Why is the passenger side door able to open all on one press but the driver side can only if you press it twice? Why is the reverse side mirror tilt work only when its on L or R toggle and not in the middle? It seems at least to me that they paid good attention to programming things in general such as turn signal tap and custom star button yet they have these weird quirky programming implementations for no reason on the car.
• Exhaust - I would say an active exhaust feature as an option for GT1 and GT2 would be a welcome change. Stock is acceptable now yet it would be nice for a more aggressive exhaust to be present in Sport or Custom mode
• Steering wheel paddle shifters - Way too small stock AND its attached to the wheel so its a perfect storm! Extend these a bit more for GT+ vehicles

(The car overall is amazing though but these changes would be great to be implemented in the next three years of Stingers! )[/QUOTE]

 

[Leonidass]

I’ve heard the auto start stop kills your turbos after a couple thousand miles?

• Auto Start Stop feature - Needs a permanent toggle off and on. Why does the parking sensors have this feature but not the next button over huh KIA? Maybe you can just turn this off when we are in Sport or Custom automatically and keep it on when in Comfort/Eco?
• Door handle button - Feels like a cheap rubbery mess with a bit of lag when you press it. Why could it not have been made to match the body and be a different material?
  
• Stinger Interior Decal - The car interior has little to no mention of it being a Stinger or a GT variant. I would love to see a bit more attention to detail that indeed you are in a Stinger (Different steering wheel badge? Passenger side emblem? etc.)
• Stinger Exterior Decal - Either get rid of the current KIA logo and replace with the Excellence logo front and back, or remove the front and have the Stinger script logo on the back from the factory. I feel like at least 75% of the Stinger GT community de-badges and swaps these out anyway so it would be a nice community-driven change
• Programming of buttons - Why is the passenger side door able to open all on one press but the driver side can only if you press it twice? Why is the reverse side mirror tilt work only when its on L or R toggle and not in the middle? It seems at least to me that they paid good attention to programming things in general such as turn signal tap and custom star button yet they have these weird quirky programming implementations for no reason on the car.
• Exhaust - I would say an active exhaust feature as an option for GT1 and GT2 would be a welcome change. Stock is acceptable now yet it would be nice for a more aggressive exhaust to be present in Sport or Custom mode
• Steering wheel paddle shifters - Way too small stock AND its attached to the wheel so its a perfect storm! Extend these a bit more for GT+ vehicles

(The car overall is amazing though but these changes would be great to be implemented in the next three years of Stingers! )

[/QUOTE]

Correlation does not imply causation when it comes the turbos "dying" with auto start-stop. Im sure Kia tested it on a car with thousands of miles but I still dont use auto start-stop bc it also kills the AC, it probably does have a bit of an impact on the engine wear and tear but not going to kill turbos.

 

[turboAWD]

I don't see how turbos would be affected by auto start/stop? They're usually not even spinning when it kicks in. And I doubt the change in oil/coolant circulation would cause much of a temperature-related effect in a minute or two? Maybe if you're driving REALLY hard, pushing the turbos at full throttle for a long time, and then instantly hit stop/start for 5+ minutes, you might overheat something?

 

[Joe Harris]

Correlation does not imply causation when it comes the turbos "dying" with auto start-stop. Im sure Kia tested it on a car with thousands of miles but I still dont use auto start-stop bc it also kills the AC, it probably does have a bit of an impact on the engine wear and tear but not going to kill turbos.[/QUOTE]

 

[Jordan McGregor]

Interesting. I can open my hatch from the drivers seat by pressing a button by the gas door one, by standing behind the car for a few seconds it will open automatically ( handy when holding an arm full of beer) or the old fashioned way I can press the button on the hatch it's self. CDN GT Limited.

I also have a hatch release beside the fuel button. In addition to the one on the fob and it opens automatically after standing beside it for 4 to 5 seconds when the car is closed.

 

[Nasscar]

Just had a weird experience with my infotainment system and front camera. I reversed out of my driveway and the reverse camera was working as per normal. I put it in drive and then the infotainment system put up a view from the front of my car, I assume from the front camera. So I drove forward and it continued to show me the view out from the front of my car. Bit unnerving when you are driving at night. It went back to normal on the screen showing the maps and spotify after about 30 seconds. Anyone else had this. First time for me in 8 months.

 

[turboAWD]

Just had a weird experience with my infotainment system and front camera. I reversed out of my driveway and the reverse camera was working as per normal. I put it in drive and then the infotainment system put up a view from the front of my car, I assume from the front camera. So I drove forward and it continued to show me the view out from the front of my car. Bit unnerving when you are driving at night. It went back to normal on the screen showing the maps and spotify after about 30 seconds. Anyone else had this. First time for me in 8 months.

Was that a "from top of the mirror camera" view, or "front of the hood" view? I wish the 360 cameras had been available on the gt1.. Even just a temporary view like that (front of the hood) for parking would be most welcome.. Wonder how you triggered it?

 

[Nasscar]

Was that a "from top of the mirror camera" view, or "front of the hood" view? I wish the 360 cameras had been available on the gt1.. Even just a temporary view like that (front of the hood) for parking would be most welcome.. Wonder how you triggered it?

No it wasn't the 360 camera view. I have never seen this view before. It must have been the camera used for the Radar cruise control as it was a view from the front of the car. Not sure I had pushed any extra buttons. I didn't think I had done anything different. Most probably a slight glitch in the system.

 

[cncBilly]

Just had a weird experience with my infotainment system and front camera. I reversed out of my driveway and the reverse camera was working as per normal. I put it in drive and then the infotainment system put up a view from the front of my car, I assume from the front camera. So I drove forward and it continued to show me the view out from the front of my car. Bit unnerving when you are driving at night. It went back to normal on the screen showing the maps and spotify after about 30 seconds. Anyone else had this. First time for me in 8 months.

Normal

 

[Nasscar]

Any reason why it's just started happening then.

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

Mine has always done this. It stays in 360/backup/whatever mode until you go over some certain speed. I swear it didn't do this on the test drives, but maybe I wasn't paying attention.