STINGER GT2 FOR LONG TRAVEL!

[Gautam Beri]

I am very close to purchasing my Stinger GT2. Wanted to know everyones experience who loves to travel and take their stinger along. I know as GT suggests Grand Tourer , wanted to know hands on experience who took their car for 10-12hours drive at a stretch , how does the car feel?
How comfortable is it for the driver and the passenger?
And would love to get your honest opinions because I travel a lot and your advices and experience would be beneficial.

 

[Luminary]

Drove from Northern Virginia to Sandusky Ohio (roughly 9 hours each way) last summer and my 2018 GT2 did great. Comfy and I was getting roughly 30MPG in Smart mode.
This year drove to just outside of Atlanta Georgia (10+ hours each way) and again, the Stinger did awesome!!

Both trips the Stinger was smooth and I did not hear any complaints from any of my passengers, and easily fit all out luggage and stuff for a family of 4 in the back without blocking the view at all.

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

I take mine on 300 mile (each way) journeys once every week or two. So nothing as long as 10+ hours yet. I was supposed to take it to PA this spring, which would have been a 1300mi journey, but COVID ruined that.

Most comfortable, easiest to drive long-trip car that I've ever owned. The only thing it really needs is some sort of self-driving functionality on the interstate, but I plan on picking up comma.ai to fix that. Long trips are what the Stinger excels at.

 

[vipeboy2000]

So far, fantastic. 10x more comfortable than old bmw brick seats!!! Haven't done any 5+ hour drives yet but 5 hour drives have been great. usually 3 hours in, my body says it needs to get up and walk around... did not feel that way at all during the whole trip.

 

[CKeeler]

Recently came back from a trip to Denver from Lake Elsinore, California. A little over 1,000 miles. Car drove great, got great fuel mileage for cruising at 80 and climbing mountains. And was very comfortable. The only problem I had was my butt starting to hurt after long driving hours. I don’t have much cushion in the back so that’s probably my personal problem.

 

[2Slo4u]

Bought mine in Chicago and drove it to Utah. Surprised I didn’t get any tickets. Gas tank is a bit small for my liking but that’s really my only complaint

 

[Revvdmedia]

I drove from Edmonton to Spokane before I let the car go. Must say it was plenty comfortable for that 10+ hour drive. A few features really stood out as nice-to-have. I liked the automatic high beams for night driving on unfamiliar roads, the adjustable thigh support (almost makes it like a recliner), adaptive cruise control was great for those roads and maintaining speed with traffic. The twisty sections were obviously pretty fun, and also highway on-ramps lol. Wife thought it was "just OK" for seat comfort, for her at least, but with that said, I HATE the seats in her Santa Fe while she doesn't mind them...so different strokes. Also, granted I had Nokian winter tires which I do rave about, we had to drive through a nasty storm on ice covered roads at highway speed, I drive with caution and had no issue at all...just a bit of white knuckle driving is all. AWD and TCS did its job....plus a hint of driver mod.

Any gripes? Mostly the fact the factory aim on the headlights is too low, but can easily be adjusted in the driveway. Semi or full autonomous driving would be nice, I found you need to twitch the steering wheel every so often with lane keep assist on otherwise Bitchin' Betty tells you to grab the wheel. It is a pretty great cruiser on the highway.

 

[NIU_Huskies]

I have a 2019 GT2. Haven't taken it on any long traveling trips yet but I do regular commute in it to and from work an hour each way and it is very comfortable. I have taken some long trips with my 2017 Toyota Tacoma and it is painful.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I am very close to purchasing my Stinger GT2. Wanted to know everyones experience who loves to travel and take their stinger along. I know as GT suggests Grand Tourer , wanted to know hands on experience who took their car for 10-12hours drive at a stretch , how does the car feel?
How comfortable is it for the driver and the passenger?
And would love to get your honest opinions because I travel a lot and your advices and experience would be beneficial.

My car takes me along, not the other way around. Hah.

I've never driven a more comfortable vehicle, not even close. My road trips to date from Salt Lake City area are: north Texas; Oregon then to Seattle from there; LA; north Texas again; Georgia, NC (into Tennessee on Tail of the Dragon); LA again.

 

[progers280]

I’ve done a 2000 mile round trip from NC to Wisconsin with the wife this summer. I thought it was plenty comfortable, easy to cruise at 80 mph and higher, and still averaged about 32 miles per gallon. Twisty bits in the mountains were fun. My wife thought the seats were a little uncomfortable, but I definitely didn’t mind. Nice thing was having the room for a large piece of luggage and all the crap she wanted to bring back down with us.
We also did a shorter trek to the mountains in Tennessee last month, about a 6 hour drive each way. Also an enjoyable ride!

 

[jdogonroad]

Se Georgia to northern KY was my longest. About 9+ hours. Most comfortable car I’ve ever driven on a long trip. Averaged 29 mpg. Played a lot on the backroads in appalachians. Want to take it down the tail of the Dragon one day. Bet it would be awesome. Definitely a Gran Touring car.

 

[Dodger Blue]

One of the first things I did with the car was take it on a camping trip, about 1300 miles round trip. Didn't even need to fold the seats down to fit my tent, a big cooler, and all my other gear, just left the trunk lid at home. Not only did I never feel any discomfort in my legs or back along the way, I averaged about 32 mpg on the way back despite never really going below 80mph. The car was sublime on the twisties as well. All in all I think it's an exceptional machine for a long road trip with up to 2 adults and a kid or shorter adult. Anything more than that might start to feel cramped for the back seaters.

 

[mtuckeruk]

Weekend trip into the hills, about 60 motorway, 40 rural roads . Did about 80mph on the motorway. Average overall about 50 mph combined

 

[Aarvix]

Wow, the diesel gets amazing mileage.

 

[7Andrei7]

I use mine only for very long distances. I have the 2.0 GT Line + an additional package which gives me absolutely all comfort the Stinger can offer minus the engine power and the adaptive suspension.
So far I've done about 15+ road-trips of over 2000km so I think I have a pretty good idea about the car's comfort.

DRIVING & GADGETS:
I almost always drive in comfort mode (with pre-tuned "hard" suspension). Steering is just perfect, not too heavy, not too light. Gearbox is ok, pretty smooth but sometimes a little too oriented towards fuel consumption. Suspension is good, not too hard but still able to keep the car in check.
If you like to send it, everything is just right, except for the suspension which just can't hide the almost 2 tons. Not sure if the "sport" setting of the adaptive suspension helps since I could not get it on the 2.0.
The car is pretty quiet at 140-150km/h. However, there is some tire noise if the asphalt is a little rougher (I have the 19" with Continental tires). The adaptive cruise is very nice and responsive and works even under severe weather, like heavy rain. The active lane keep is also pretty good but I don't really use it. I like to drive. However, the rain sensors are seriously lacking. This can get a little tiring after a few hours. The led headlights are really good (minus adaptive function which doesn't work on high beam) and the auto dimming of all mirrors works great!
After a 10-12h drive (Bucharest - Vienna) I can usually go out for dinner and drinks.

INTERIOR COMFORT:
Seats are super comfortable! The extension of the seat helps a lot on long trips and the ventilation works like a dream in the summer. However, I do find the seat heating function a bit too aggressive. I only use it when I start and then quickly turn it off. The AC is ok, nothing to complain. The HK sound system is good enough. The TomTom navi is almost always better than google maps, except inside cities. That is if it has access to a hotspot and can get traffic info. Both screens (7"+8") have great luminosity and even under direct sunlight you can still see what they're displaying.

 

[turboAWD]

Andrei - what do you drive for shorter distances?

 

[7Andrei7]

Andrei - what do you drive for shorter distances?

The Stinger is my only car but I don't drive in the city because public transport and bikes/electric scooters are so much faster.
And since I live in Bucharest and the closest points of interest around us are 170km away (mountains) or 250km away (the sea), that's the shortest trip the Stigner usually takes .

 

[GenesisG70]

Drove from Florida to Atlanta 8 hrs so comfortable and smooth, was not tired like when I drove long distances my other 2 cars.

 

[mtuckeruk]

After 8 hours in my Stinger, even my GF admitted(and she aint one for compliments) that its a very comfortable ride, seats super comfy

 

[P22Tyler]

My wife's car is a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander GT (we're hoping to upgrade to a Telluride or Pallisade sooner rather than later), after sitting in those seats for about 10 minutes my back starts to hurt. I don't normally like to use my cars for travel, her car is kind of the errand running car we don't mind putting miles on, but my Stinger is so much more comfortable I refuse to travel long distances in anything else now. Plus the passing power is always nice on the roads around here that have short passing lanes.