[Martyn]

Had that happen once too, at a Nissan when the new Z came out and once at a Audi dealership (didn't ask for a drive because no one came to speak to me). I guess jeans and t-shirt and my face make me look like I can't afford to buy. Purchased elsewhere, I'm not going to dress up, they either want my money or not.

Similar experience many years back, while shopping for a good used BMW. Went to the smaller dealer in town, thinking that they would be more personal and be really trying to get more business. Alas, the only Sales guy that came out to talk to me while I was looking at an almost new 5-series, was a young kid that couldn't answer any of the basic questions that I asked. While I know everyone has to start somewhere and this kid was obviously a new hire, he should have been trained at least a little. He said that he would go and find someone who could answer my questions... but no one came back. I gave it 10 minutes, walked away, drove to the other dealership and... you guessed it... bought a BMW! Car dealerships have no idea how much business they lose due to untrained, impolite or just useless sales folks.

Edit: back on the topic - I think the Stinger looks fine. Never driven one though!!

 

[Meegs]

I saw one in flat gray today. Looks nice. Sort of like a Japanese version of the Audi A7?

Reviews on it are universally good. It's faster in a straight line. However, it's also heavier and won't have the handling of the Giulia.

If there was no Giulia though, I may have gotten it.

 

[jzchen]

Hey, if it comes with their 10 year warranty...... (My son’s wish car is a Genesis).....

 

[babacu]

I looked at it and even contemplated it before getting the Giulia. It's an even better deal in Canada, 50k for the top loaded version (that even has bird's eye view and wireless phone charging over the US gt2, from what I remember reading). Quite a few other creature comfort features on top of what Giulia offers, too, even at 15k more.

But... The elegance of the Giulia is hard to match, the Stinger's styling is a bit over the top for my taste, fake vents and grills just don't have a place on a serious car IMO.

The G70, OTOH, looks to be a more serious contender in the style department, and is said to be tighter, too.

And yet, I doubt either one would be as enjoyable as Giulia for me. There are just too many things that feel right, driving the Giulia, more so than with any other car I drove (test or otherwise) recently.

 

[Alfaholico]

I saw one in flat gray today. Looks nice. Sort of like a Japanese version of the Audi A7?

Reviews on it are universally good. It's faster in a straight line. However, it's also heavier and won't have the handling of the Giulia.

If there was no Giulia though, I may have gotten it.

Faster than Giulia in a straight line ?

 

[robertmee]

Faster than Giulia in a straight line ?

The Stinger GT is faster than the non-QV Giulia's.

 

[Meegs]

The Stinger GT is faster than the non-QV Giulia's.

Yes, I meant non-QV. Not by a lot though.

 

[robertmee]

The Stinger GT is faster than the non-QV Giulia's.

Yes, I meant non-QV. Not by a lot though.

I guess alot is relative. Per published 1/4 mile times it would beat the Giulia by 5 car lengths in a 1/4 mile race. That's alot to me.

 

[Meegs]

The Stinger GT is faster than the non-QV Giulia's.

Yes, I meant non-QV. Not by a lot though.

I guess alot is relative. Per published 1/4 mile times it would beat the Giulia by 5 car lengths in a 1/4 mile race. That's alot to me.

I was going by motortrend. Stinger got 13.3 and Giulia 13.6, although the speed difference was 3 mph, bigger than I would expect for that time difference.

 

[Meegs]

I find it strange how people feel the need to crap on the Stinger to feel good about their Giulia. At the end of the day, a reliable, value-centric brand like Kia offering an interesting, enthusiast-oriented vehicle like the Stinger is a win for all of us, especially in the SUV age.

I leased a Ceramic Silver Stinger GT1 for about a week before the dealer took it back over horrible paint damage they inflicted. I was so turned off by the TERRIBLE dealer experience that I jumped ship and ended up in a Giulia for about the same money. I'm happier where I landed, to be sure, but the Stinger was still a cool, SUPER PRACTICAL car. It turned more heads than my Giulia all day, and the straight line speed and engine sound were a riot. The driver assistance tech was also some of the best in the business. Not to mention you can already get a piggyback tune that will push well over 400 HP for 500 bucks, no ecu tune required.

After a week with it, I started noticing how the handling felt really heavy and kind of sloppy as you neared the limit. The high speed stability was also not up to par for a car with that much power, the adjustable suspension made zero perceptible difference, the gas mileage was abysmal, the touch screen was obnoxiously hard to reach, and the center arm rest felt like it was made of cardboard.

All in all, I was happy to see it go, but you could certainly do a lot worse in the mid $40K range. The Giulia gives you a perfectly balanced, cohesive machine designed for dynamic driving bliss. The Stinger gives you size, power, and tech, kind of duct taped together with a bonkers warranty. Horses for courses.

I've seen a couple at the local cars and coffee, and it's an eye catching car. Get's lots of attention. No Kia (or Hyundai) hate here /forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

Looks better in person than pics. Will have to test drive it one of these days

 

[Alfaholico]

Still a Kia.....:nerd:

 

[Meegs]

Still a Kia.....:nerd:

I came from a Mazda. I'm honesty not sure what makes some brands "luxury"? Haven't been that impressed with the Audis, Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes ive been in.

Alfa is cool because it's different and has a racing history, not so much the luxury.

 

[robertmee]

Still a Kia.....:nerd:

And many say still an Alfa (in regards to reliability). We Alfaholic's should be the last enthusiasts to cast stones.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

One thing to note is that many of the glowing reviews are of the GT2 trim with RWD, 19" summer tires, and a LSD. My GT1 AWD with 18" all seasons and no LSD had the top speed limiter permanently reduced to 129 mph (down from 149) and was actually pretty crap when the roads got even slightly twisty. The LSD is supposedly coming to all V6 models down the line, which to me says they realize they need it.

Car and Driver's summary of "a very fast approximation of a sports car" is literally the perfect way to describe it.

 

[Martyn]

One thing to note is that many of the glowing reviews are of the GT2 trim with RWD, 19" summer tires, and a LSD. My GT1 AWD with 18" all seasons and no LSD had the top speed limiter permanently reduced to 129 mph (down from 149) and was actually pretty crap when the roads got even slightly twisty. The LSD is supposedly coming to all V6 models down the line, which to me says they realize they need it.

Car and Driver's summary of "a very fast approximation of a sports car" is literally the perfect way to describe it.

"approximation of a sports car" that is a wonderful way to describe it. C&D often use interesting descriptions like that....

 

[Meegs]

One thing to note is that many of the glowing reviews are of the GT2 trim with RWD, 19" summer tires, and a LSD. My GT1 AWD with 18" all seasons and no LSD had the top speed limiter permanently reduced to 129 mph (down from 149) and was actually pretty crap when the roads got even slightly twisty. The LSD is supposedly coming to all V6 models down the line, which to me says they realize they need it.

Car and Driver's summary of "a very fast approximation of a sports car" is literally the perfect way to describe it.

Yeah I noticed that too when pricing it out. To get the LSD,you either get the GT2 for $50k, or you can add it to the GT but miss out on several options. It's not available on the GT1. You can get Giulias better equipped than the GT with LSD for low to mid $40s.

 

[alfisti164]

While enjoying ice cream the other night at a local place with outdoor seating, I was glancing at the Kia parked next to my E-Type. My first thought was, wow cars used to look better. My next thought was a realization of how foreign the thought process of "let's go buy a Kia" is to my brain. "Let's go buy a Chevy", or "let's go buy a Ford", I understand. People have family traditions to uphold and these are solid brands that support America. I even understand "let's go buy a Toyota", for all their reliability and Japanese tradition of boring excellence. "Let's go buy a Kia" is still beyond me. Who thinks that? Apparently a lot of people. I wish more people thought "let's go buy an Alfa". Unfortunately the WSJ made it clear to me in the most depressing article of the year that Americans just don't care about cars anymore:

"At heart, however, the travails of the car stem from the shifting relationship between people and their automobiles. Owners are less concerned with the shape of the sheet metal or what’s under the hood than they are with how many people their vehicles can transport, or how much sports gear or home-remodeling supplies they can put into the rear hatch.
“It’s all about activity today, rather than elegance or performance,” said John Wolkonowicz, an automotive historian in Boston. SUVs “are made for dogs and kids and activities and taking care of the house. It’s the tool that does the job.”
That's from this article:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-has-fallen-out-of-love-with-the-sedan-1535169698

Seriously disrupted my mood on Sunday. I guess we'll be alone driving around in our swoopy beautiful sedans. (btw the winner of this year's Pebble Beach Concourse was an Alfa 8C 2900B sedan).

I do love C&D's description of an "approximation" of a sports car. That's all Korean cars have ever been in my mind, approximations of better products from Europe and the USA. Anyone remember the Hyundai Sonata blatant ripoffs, or many others? The Stinger is a busy design without any elegance or grace, and it looks like they didn't really get the mechanical details right either.

Seriously, "let's go buy a Kia"?!?!

 

[Alfaholico]

And many say still an Alfa (in regards to reliability). We Alfaholic's should be the last enthusiasts to cast stones.

There is nothing that irks me more than the "Italian Car Reliability" BS....

911 IMS bearing failures ...new engine please
911 GT3 engine caught fire ceasing production
M 5 Rod bearing failures ....new engine please
SMG clutch in that same M5 ...made the Maserati Cambio F1 transmission appear cheap to maintain in comparison
3 Series Fuel pump failures...
Believe me, I could go on and on and on....1991 164 S in my garage has 85,000 trouble free miles...proper maintenance = proper reliability....proper technician = proper reliability...Saw an Audi A 7 stranded yesterday....relatively new car (2 or 3 years old)...
Ultimately "*hit happens"....but it seems that when it happens to a German car they are "over engineered" , yet when it happens to an Italian car, they are "unreliable".....

 

[Alfaholico]

Internal designation was 991 GT3...but just google GT3 Fire Recall.....Uber Quality or Glorified VW...? You decide...

 

[robertmee]

There is nothing that irks me more than the "Italian Car Reliability" BS....

911 IMS bearing failures ...new engine please
911 GT3 engine caught fire ceasing production
M 5 Rod bearing failures ....new engine please
SMG clutch in that same M5 ...made the Maserati Cambio F1 transmission appear cheap to maintain in comparison
3 Series Fuel pump failures...
Believe me, I could go on and on and on....1991 164 S in my garage has 85,000 trouble free miles...proper maintenance = proper reliability....proper technician = proper reliability...Saw an Audi A 7 stranded yesterday....relatively new car (2 or 3 years old)...
Ultimately "*hit happens"....but it seems that when it happens to a German car they are "over engineered" , yet when it happens to an Italian car, they are "unreliable".....

Agreed, and my point. We're tired of hearing that, and I imagine Stinger enthusiasts are tired of hearing, "It's still a Kia", as if that's some denouncement of the entire brand.