Quest for the Golden One: Revisiting the Stinger GT

In an earlier post, we tested a large range of Kia Stingers that came from four different colors with identical Grey Y5 wheels.  Two of the earliest examples proved to be poorly performing outliers, leading to questions about age affecting speed.  The first thing we can do is check to see if there is a correlation between age and performance.  

The main trick in dealing with the data is converting the date code, which is stamped in the chassis and looks something like “P11”, into a date we can graph.  From the Hot Wheels Fandom site we find that “M” = 2020 and “P” = 2021”.  It is interesting to note that in these codes the letters “I” and “O” are skipped since they could be confused with ones and zeros.  I think the same thing applies to case codes.  The numeric part of the code indicates the week of manufacture, so we need an epoch converter to figure that out, and in the example of P11, it would have been made the week of March 15th, 2021 through March 21st.   

A graph of time versus manufacturing date shows a clear correlation.  The “R-squared” value is a measure of the fit to the linear regression model and shows a moderate correlation.  

Degradation over time has implications if we find a good casting and want to stock up on wheels.  I have a collection of purple Formula E Gen-2 and yellow Lamborghini Urus I’ve been drawing wheels from, but it looks like we need to update our candidates on a regular basis to keep on the edge of performance.  

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the newest Stinger casting, the black one.  I acquired ten additional examples, and included previously tested cars #10 and 12 for retesting (car #11 already went into a project).

The average of 1.665 seconds is significantly faster than the previous 1.694, and the standard deviation is now in line with the Honda Civic Si. Here is a current summary of our results to date:

So, the Stinger now has both the lowest average time, and the fastest example!  Let us take a look at the box plot of our data to date:

I’m still wondering why the Stinger casting is such a peg hanger, while JDMs like the Honda Civic Si are so elusive. While I love the metallic blue of the Stinger’s initial release, here is what I think the Stinger debut casing should have looked like to make it move:

I guess I shouldn’t complain. A licenced model casting that is a peg hanger is actually the ideal candidate for racing and wheel farming. Next time, with the upcoming Le Mans GTE PRO/AM Endurance Race Series on the horizon, we will take a look at the BMW M3 GT2. Can it challenge the Stinger? Our quixotic quest continues . . .