THIS IS THE brand new Kia Stinger GT which made its debut at the Detroit Motor Show.
It is based on the GT concept first seen at the Frankfurt Motor Show way back in 2011.
The striking looking five-seat fastback sports saloon is the fastest and most powerful Kia to date and will also be the most expensive car in the Korean manufacturer’s marque.
The car’s sporting credentials are emphasised by its powerful haunches, strong shoulders, long bonnet, prominent air vents and quad exhaust pipes.
Inside, the driver sits low down and far back beneath a steeply raked windscreen which creates the fast silhouette. Facing the driver is a large leather-bound steering wheel and a single instrument binnacle with a neat mix of analogue and digital displays. There are two large gauges with racy red needles and a colour TFT screen nestled between the gauges that displays G-forces and lap times as well as ancillary information.
The cabin is finished in soft Nappa leather and the centre console is split in half to create two distinct areas – one to house the infotainment controls below a large colour touchscreen, and the other for the climate controls.
The Kia Stinger GT has a long wheelbase of 2.9m with an overall length of 4.83m, and is 1.87m wide. This makes it longer than the Audi A4, BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe and the Mercedes-Benz CLS, all potential rivals. It is lower than the Audi A7 Sportback and Jaguar XF.
Its chassis is made of 55 per cent advanced high-strength steel and there is a MacPherson front and multilink rear suspension set up.
It will also be the first car in the Kia range to feature Dynamic Stability Damping Control, which allows the driver to modify the ride-damping and vehicle handling traits to suit their own preferences.
The Stinger can be tuned to respond with more agility through corners by the softening of the front shocks and firming up the rear and improve high-speed stability by stiffening the front shocks and softening the rear. This is done by selection one of five drive modes: Personal, Eco, Sport, Comfort and Smart.
In terms of powertrains, two petrol engines have been announced but they are still under development. There is a 255hp 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder unit making 352Nm of torque and a more potent 3.3-litre twin turbo V6 unit making 365hp and 510Nm of torque. Hopefully, given the popularity of diesel engines over this side of the pond there will be one announced in Geneva.
Kia is hoping for a 5.1 second 0-100km/h time and a top speed of 269km/h with the V6.
Both engines will be mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. The Stinger will be available with rear-wheel or all-wheel drive systems depending on market.
The Kia Stinger will be shown off in Europe at the Geneva Motor Show in March and is due to go on sale in Ireland in October.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say