Lower top speed with all season tires???

[SpaceGhost]

In Mass they cannot void the warranty for modifications unless it can be proven that those mods caused the problem. However, that would be a long and expensive fight not worth going through for an owner. I think KIA is not serious about the US market to be honest. I really like my Stinger GT AWD and I have the 18 inch rims and I am not planning on going that fast but I feel bad for people that bought these cars and didn't get what was promised or expected. And the US market also got the least options, no surround view camera, no rear heated seats, not even Bluetooth enabled Android mobile, terrible paint, a crippled and nearly useless EVO app, poor integration of features in the head unit unless using Android Auto, mediocre handling compared to competition, etc. I mean my cousin's Accord has all of that and more for $10k less and that is with a Honda extended warranty, tire care and all the other after market stuff they always get. Then you have the salespeople who don't know anything about the Stinger, my salesperson was at least familiar with the electronics but not much of anything else. In fact when I returned to the dealer they had a list of questions that were being asked by other potential buyers and I was nice enough to answer most of them.

I think that a better option would honesty be just to get a used Audi or a demo model Audi and in the Northeast an Audi S4 demo loaded with a 5 year bumper to bumper and 2 year maintenance plan goes for $48-$51k. Then there is no compromise, a new S4 with the performance axle destroys the Stinger in performance and material quality. About the only real benefit of the Stinger is that it is a large car and I have three kids so they all fit in the back seat and the maintenance is much cheaper than a German car. For me if I keep this car long enough once I am close to the end of the warranty I am going to mod the hell out of it and see what it really can do with a better suspension, upgraded turbos, upgraded exhaust, perf chip, and summer tires but that is 9 more years down the road.

I don't think an Audi would be more reliable. I had it for 30K miles. It burned 3 quarts of oil between oil changes and had a horrible creaking sound coming from the sunroof that took 9 trips to the dealer to get fixed. It was starting to rust on the rear hatch (bolts). It leaked anti freeze. It was a very slow leak I had to put antifreeze in it 3 times, but the dealer couldn't figure out where it was leaking. I'm not saying it was the worst the oil was kind of a bummer, but the consumption wasn't getting worse. The thing I didn't like was way too much power for FWD. Also there was a lot of turbo lag so it was difficult to impossible to modulate the power to keep the wheels from spinning.

Also don't understand why you think it would cost more to maintain. The only maintenance that wouldn't be required on the Kia would be transmission fluid change at 40K because it has a DSG.

I don't think VW/Audi is great but they do sell lots of them so maybe mine was just a lemon. You know you only live once so if you are really unhappy just trade it in. Maybe you could do a deal at CarMax and get a S4 in trade for your Stinger.

 

[Pieceofchum]

I don't think an Audi would be more reliable. Also don't understand why you think it would cost more to maintain. The only maintenance that wouldn't be required on the Kia would be transmission fluid change at 40K because it has a DSG.

No I said that the maintenance on the Kia is lower than any German car:

"About the only real benefit of the Stinger is that it is a large car and I have three kids so they all fit in the back seat and the maintenance is much cheaper than a German car."

I love my car and don't plan to exceed 120 mph ever and that would be on a closed track. I am saying that if you are comparing this to an Audi S4 or a BMW M4 type vehicle then you are probably not going to be as satisfied with the Stinger as there are some missing features and the performance while wonderful and plenty for me would not really compare to a car meant to race. Also the reliability of all the German made vehicles will be lower than a Kia Stinger on average and you will pay big time when things go wrong. I had BMW and loved it but the maintenance costs were staggering, the Stinger is the lowest maintenance cost so far of any vehicle I have ever owned. Although I have many friends with Audi's and they have not had any issues at all but those are newer, Audi reliability was vastly improved starting with 2015 models.

I am however disappointed in how Kia treats the US market as seemingly a second class citizen when it comes to the features at least for last years model. The latest models prices are $2k+ higher and have some of the missing features but the price increase pushes them into Audi territory. I also think that KIA should have been very careful to explain to people buying the car that about changes to the capabilities of the vehicle based on options. I for one would have then purchased the 19 inch rims and put on Snow Tires had I known simply to improve resale value.

 

[Pieceofchum]

When I was researching I noticed a number of dealer sites said the top speed was limited on the models with all season tires. I thought it said 130. But now I see that the bridgestone tires are rated V 149 so I'm guessing that 140 is the correct limit. On the other hand I had a 2006 G35 coupe that was not speed limited. I saw some idiot who had his going 155. I say idiot because that was being recorded with a cell phone. Yeah going 155 with your phone out recording it. Anyway I never had mine over 100 so I ended up thinking even 130 who cares I like my license, my life, don't like killing other people or going to jail

I agree but I never saw any of those disclaimers and it was never explained to me. But that is not the point here other members purchased this car for its performance and then to find out later that it was changed in a permanent way based on a tire option is a bit much in my opinion. It would be fine if they had a mechanism for changing it if you purchase the performance tires but that is not what is happening. And I purchased my car in July and my sticker doesn't have the disclaimer for the tires on it. I am fine with it but I feel bad for others that are now not happy because of this.

 

[SpaceGhost]

Want to make yourself feel better a Kia Stinger is 202K in Singapore

https://www.sgcarmart.com/new_cars/newcars_overview.php?CarCode=12193