2018 Kia Stinger GT Long-Term Review Update | A romp in the snow

After driving a slew of family sedans and

crossovers

, I was excited to take home our

hard-charging, corner-craving 2018 Kia Stinger long-term car

for a weekend of some

sports car

fun. Then Saturday came, bearing between three and four inches of snow and single digit temperatures. Lovely.

But, the weather did offer an opportunity to put the

Stinger

through its first serious snow of the season, as well as the

snow tires

Nokian generously donated to us. And the big

sedan hatchback

did fine in the snow, but not exceptionally well. I appreciated the extra traction from the front wheels, which helped make crawling out of the deep snow in my driveway and accelerating through corners and at intersections easier. I didn’t have much trouble breaking the rear wheels loose, either, confirming that the Stinger does indeed have a rear-wheel bias. Fortunately, it was pretty easy to control when the car would break traction, but it was easy enough that it felt as though the all-wheel-drive and traction control weren’t doing much to optimize traction until the car really got loose. Then the traction control would quickly bring the car to a crawl to stabilize it.

Cornering and braking were just OK, and it seemed to mostly be hampered by the Stinger’s roughly 4,000-pound curb weight. I could feel that the car really wanted to keep forging straight ahead, and if I turned too fast or braked too late, it would take its opportunity to do so. Naturally this applies with any large vehicle, but it still feels surprising considering how agile the Stinger is on dry pavement.

I hate to think what it would have been like driving the Stinger without the

snow tires

. On the low-profile all-seasons, I’m sure the traction control would be having conniptions, and I’d be crawling through corners and up to stops. Leaving my driveway probably would have taken a few forward and back attempts, too.

Aside from the driving experience I was immensely grateful for the heated seats and steering wheel, both of which seemed to warm up quickly. Boy, though, I sure wish the Stinger had remote start. I’m sure it’s not great for the environment, but oh how I wish I could have stepped out the door to an already toasty cabin this weekend.

So there you have it. The Stinger GT definitely loses a lot of its fun character in the snow, but it will get you through it. And when things clear up, you’ll be happy to have something sporty on hand. We also definitely still recommend picking up snow tires, even if you have all four wheels powered.

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