- Messages
- 269
- Likes
- 37
- State
- AZ
- Country
- United States
- What I Drive
- 2018 Stinger GT RWD
TLDR: Test drove it, loved it. Traded in my Audi S5 for it 
RWD GT2.
Longer story:
Compared to my S5, the Stinger felt significantly heavier (despite the fact that it's actually right around the same weight). This took a bit of getting used to. The visibility out the Stinger to the rear is also compromised quite a bit - the rear window in the liftback from the mirror's perspective is very much a gunslit - similar to what I had in my older 370Z. This also took quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, the side visibility is great, and the mirrors when adjusted were easily able to eliminate the blind spots.
Engine is awesome though. It's got a huge amount of pull in the midrange, much more than my S5. Not quite up there with a mustang or camaro, but having owned a recent 370Z (2010), 335i (2012), and S5 (2015), it's easily the best of the bunch in midrange acceleration, which is what I use most often. And I don't care if the sound in the cabin is partially fake, it still sounds great - almost V8ish.
Handling is sneaky good. Despite it feeling "heavy", it stuck to the road like glue on my test drive. Very flat and controllable through twisties. Better than my S5. I think my 335i would have been better pushed really really hard, but that's rather expected considering the weight difference. Steering feedback and response is good, again, better than my S5, not quite as good as my 335i. As some other reviews online have noted though, it's really light, even in "Sport" mode. Could use some more weighting so that it's easier to set and keep a specific steering angle.
Features - this is where the car really shines though. 50K loaded with everything. Easily 10K less than a comparably equipped BMW or Audi. Though there is some areas that it's clear there was some decontenting to reduce cost - for example, the fuel filler door needs to be opened from within the car using the button. Both the Audi and BMW unlock the fuel filler door with keyfob proximity. But this is something I can live with, though I didn't notice it until reading the owners manual at home. The intelligent cruise control will make my traffic congested drives home much easier, as will the great sound system, two things I've not had in my Audi or BMW to reduce price to somewhere I felt comfortable with.
Dealership experience - not fun. Not anywhere up to the Audi or BMW experience. Both of those dealers are used to dealing with educated and reasonably savvy car buyers. While they might initially try to sell the "full boat", they are quick to recognize an experienced car buyer and will generally proceed to a solid "reasonable" offer pretty quickly (usually the 2nd or 3rd "pencil"). It took 7 "pencils" to come to a deal this time, and, frankly, I probably should have walked out earlier, but each deal was getting closer to the one I came in for (the lease deal), and we did eventually get there...but it took me pulling out a calculator and doing the math right in front of them for them to finally put the final deal together (they tried everything - I was promised there was no ADM on the phone prior to coming in, on the first "pencil" there was 1K in ADM, MF was above Kia's manufacturer offer by what equated to almost 3% APR, lease cash offer was lower on the first few offers, etc). Not sure if they're ready to handle customers that have higher expectations of a dealer to be honest, and that might cause problems if they really do want to steal market share from the more established luxury brands.
Eventually though, a deal was struck, and I'm now a very happy Stinger GT owner. Red/black interior (it looks like all the GT2's are being configured this way, at least the first shipment all the ones in my area are, but I love the red on this car).
RWD GT2.Longer story:
Compared to my S5, the Stinger felt significantly heavier (despite the fact that it's actually right around the same weight). This took a bit of getting used to. The visibility out the Stinger to the rear is also compromised quite a bit - the rear window in the liftback from the mirror's perspective is very much a gunslit - similar to what I had in my older 370Z. This also took quite a bit of getting used to. Fortunately, the side visibility is great, and the mirrors when adjusted were easily able to eliminate the blind spots.
Engine is awesome though. It's got a huge amount of pull in the midrange, much more than my S5. Not quite up there with a mustang or camaro, but having owned a recent 370Z (2010), 335i (2012), and S5 (2015), it's easily the best of the bunch in midrange acceleration, which is what I use most often. And I don't care if the sound in the cabin is partially fake, it still sounds great - almost V8ish.
Handling is sneaky good. Despite it feeling "heavy", it stuck to the road like glue on my test drive. Very flat and controllable through twisties. Better than my S5. I think my 335i would have been better pushed really really hard, but that's rather expected considering the weight difference. Steering feedback and response is good, again, better than my S5, not quite as good as my 335i. As some other reviews online have noted though, it's really light, even in "Sport" mode. Could use some more weighting so that it's easier to set and keep a specific steering angle.
Features - this is where the car really shines though. 50K loaded with everything. Easily 10K less than a comparably equipped BMW or Audi. Though there is some areas that it's clear there was some decontenting to reduce cost - for example, the fuel filler door needs to be opened from within the car using the button. Both the Audi and BMW unlock the fuel filler door with keyfob proximity. But this is something I can live with, though I didn't notice it until reading the owners manual at home. The intelligent cruise control will make my traffic congested drives home much easier, as will the great sound system, two things I've not had in my Audi or BMW to reduce price to somewhere I felt comfortable with.
Dealership experience - not fun. Not anywhere up to the Audi or BMW experience. Both of those dealers are used to dealing with educated and reasonably savvy car buyers. While they might initially try to sell the "full boat", they are quick to recognize an experienced car buyer and will generally proceed to a solid "reasonable" offer pretty quickly (usually the 2nd or 3rd "pencil"). It took 7 "pencils" to come to a deal this time, and, frankly, I probably should have walked out earlier, but each deal was getting closer to the one I came in for (the lease deal), and we did eventually get there...but it took me pulling out a calculator and doing the math right in front of them for them to finally put the final deal together (they tried everything - I was promised there was no ADM on the phone prior to coming in, on the first "pencil" there was 1K in ADM, MF was above Kia's manufacturer offer by what equated to almost 3% APR, lease cash offer was lower on the first few offers, etc). Not sure if they're ready to handle customers that have higher expectations of a dealer to be honest, and that might cause problems if they really do want to steal market share from the more established luxury brands.
Eventually though, a deal was struck, and I'm now a very happy Stinger GT owner. Red/black interior (it looks like all the GT2's are being configured this way, at least the first shipment all the ones in my area are, but I love the red on this car).
-Matt
