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- City
- Mechanicsburg
- State
- OH
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- United States
- What I Drive
- 2019 Stinger GT2
I took my GT2 Stinger (19" factory wheels) on the Mid Ohio Sports Car Track for an SCCA PDX track day (novice group) on October 25, 2019. Car ran great. Topped out at 125 on a couple of laps, Bridgette (our car) was capable of more if I didn't mind destroying her by overrunning the end of the straight! Brakes are terrible. Don't get me wrong, they didn't start out that way, but the pads definitely couldn't stand the heat. New pads purchased, waiting to get new slotted two-piece rotors before installing them. I have to stand on 'em to get 0.3 g stops now, 0.2 more likely. I would have liked Kia to put a more durable system on the car. I had traction control and stability OFF, so those systems are not to blame for the (permanent) brake fade.
Handling was pretty tight, some cars (WRX, Fiesta?, and an AMG) were faster through tight turns. I could smoke all these but the AMG on the straights. A few cars with V8s were faster on the straights, but not by a lot. I did spin twice, once off the track (if you're familiar, it was just before "Carousel"), I blame lack of brakes. My times were consistent (2:02 plus or minus a couple of seconds), about 20 seconds slower than competitive sport class times (2.4-mile course, which I ran) and 1 minute slower than the Indy car (2.1-mile course) track record here.
Shifting with the paddle-shifters was horrible, just ending up putting it in Sport/ Drive (traction and stability OFF). It was as if by pulling the paddle, I was sending a request to a committee to consider changing gears. Biggest disappointment of the day (and remember, my brakes quit working -- but I can fix that).
Bottom line? For a comfortable car with all of the bells and whistles, it's great fun on the track. Can it outrun a Boss 302 Mustang? Maybe through the turns (his splitter came off down the straight, couldn't take the pressure, so we don't know for sure). Can it outrun an AMG Mercedes? No. Can it outturn a WRX? Not always through the turns. But for my money, who cares? (provided it had better brakes). It's a hoot AND I can drive it for 10 hours comfortably.
Some video if you're interested:
Handling was pretty tight, some cars (WRX, Fiesta?, and an AMG) were faster through tight turns. I could smoke all these but the AMG on the straights. A few cars with V8s were faster on the straights, but not by a lot. I did spin twice, once off the track (if you're familiar, it was just before "Carousel"), I blame lack of brakes. My times were consistent (2:02 plus or minus a couple of seconds), about 20 seconds slower than competitive sport class times (2.4-mile course, which I ran) and 1 minute slower than the Indy car (2.1-mile course) track record here.
Shifting with the paddle-shifters was horrible, just ending up putting it in Sport/ Drive (traction and stability OFF). It was as if by pulling the paddle, I was sending a request to a committee to consider changing gears. Biggest disappointment of the day (and remember, my brakes quit working -- but I can fix that).
Bottom line? For a comfortable car with all of the bells and whistles, it's great fun on the track. Can it outrun a Boss 302 Mustang? Maybe through the turns (his splitter came off down the straight, couldn't take the pressure, so we don't know for sure). Can it outrun an AMG Mercedes? No. Can it outturn a WRX? Not always through the turns. But for my money, who cares? (provided it had better brakes). It's a hoot AND I can drive it for 10 hours comfortably.
Some video if you're interested:
