We covered in details one of the most important debuts in Kia’s history. Now we are here with more info about Stinger’s flagship version or upcoming 2017 Kia Stinger GT, which will arrive at dealerships during this year, along with other parts of the same lineup.
WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT IT?
Well, Kia has already tried its luck in upper automotive echelons with full-size Cadenza and even full-size luxury K900. Yet, Cadenza with $10k lower price tag than Genesis sibling is intended to rival Toyota Avalon, Chevy Impala and similar, while $20k lower price of K900 compared to Genesis G90 makes it an unprecedented bargain.
So, the South Korean car maker actually never tried to tackle premium part of the automotive world, as Genesis does, and that is till now. According to Koreans, Stinger is a direct attack on the entry-level luxury segment, so on Merc, BMW, Caddy, Jag and rest of the bunch.
STYLING
We already covered this, so we will be short. Whether you like it or not, it is the boldest thing that ever came out from Korea, and just that fact deserves some respect. One thing is sure, it is impossible to stay indifferent, which is a great move for attracting attention for the things you haven’t done yet. The cabin is the classiest thing that we ever saw from Kia, and if the build quality is not yet there with Audi, it doesn’t matter as Koreans jumped over many steps to come here.
ENGINE STUFF
Stinger comes with 2.2-liter turbocharged I4 diesel rated at 200 hp and with 2.0-liter turbocharged I4 petrol pumping out 255 hp, which is a respectable figure, but we are here for something even better. When you have GT in name equation, it implies the use of 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 petrol boosting 365 hp and 376 lb-ft, which is quite a figure. It is mated to an 8-speed automatic build in-house, so Koreans gave an extra effort, not just ending shopping from ZF, Aisin or similar.
Let’s get back to that 365 hp figure. Stinger doesn’t intend to rival M or AMG as they have way over 400 hp but do aim to compete with the top offer from regular lineup. 340i model delivers 326 hp while C-Class 400 adds three hp more, leaving Kia quite above. It can even openly rival Audi S4 as it gets eleven more hp. So, on the paper so far, Stinger is more than properly equipped.
2017 Kia Stinger GT DRIVING THING
Koreans haven’t developed a new platform for Stinger. Instead, they borrowed one from Genesis. It features McPhaerson strut at the front and multilink at the rear, while McPhaersons strut is not double wishbone thing quite, but it is hard that we anticipated that here. Stinger intends to rival BMW dynamically, but it won’t sacrifice comfort while trying to achieve that. It will have five driving modes: Eco, Sport, Sport +, Comfort and Smart, and on top of that, in all of them things like steering, dampers, and ESP are tuned to your wishes.
In Sport modes, you might even think that stability control is gone, until you really cross the line of sanity when it does intervene to keep you in whole, but you can turn it off completely and enjoy some side driving. Also, 2017 Kia Stinger GT will come with AWD and a limited-slip diff, making sure that you can actually transmit all that power to the pavement in drag racing between lights if that’s your thing.
Engines pull hard from quite lower rpm range and sitting position is incredibly low, so you’ll have your dose of heart pumping for sure.
IN CONCLUSION
We know that not many people will go for 2017 Kia Stinger GT instead of BMW 340i or Audi S4, no matter how cheaper it would be when the price is announced. But you still have to give a point to Kia, at least for effort and for boldness. Have you ever believed that car maker that made mid-size saloon Clarus during 90’s, could ever come up with something like this? Probably not, so let’s not underestimate it.
