We delve into Kia's powerful new rear-driver to see if it delivers on its sporty promise.
That the Kia Stinger looks as outrageously low and mean as it does is perhaps our highest praise for the new four-door sport hatch. Few and far between are cars that survive the bureaucracy-filled odyssey from show stand to showroom without suffering character-killing dilution. Yet the production Stinger’s shape matches nearly line for line that of the Kia GT Concept, which made its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. Production realities excised the concept’s rear-hinged rear doors, added B-pillars, and transformed its wing cameras into conventional door-mounted side mirrors. Otherwise, the similarities are as plain as day. The GT’s grille-flanking intake scoops remain on the production car, as do the wraparound taillamps, which terminate in reflectors on the rear quarter-panels. The rear side windows, too, share their distinctive quarter-round shape with the GT Concept’s. Even the Stinger’s name, which shrouds the car in the same majesty as greats such as the Plymouth Fury and the Hillman Imp, hints that something is different about this Kia. Part of that something—a big part of it, actually—is shocking straight-line performance.Our test car, a preproduction rear-wheel-drive GT fitted with the brand’s 365-hp twin-turbocharged 3.3-liter V-6, treated us to a 12.9-second quarter-mile at 111 mph. And it did so without any fanfare. Just wood the throttle and the car’s 255/35ZR-19 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rear rubber finds the purchase necessary to produce such numbers. The homegrown eight-speed automatic is at its best when left to shift itself, so that’s what we did. Its gearchanges, like those of Porsche’s PDK-equipped cars, are rapid enough to be invisible on the speed trace plotted by our VBOX test gear, which is to say they’re pretty damned fast. The near-optimal grip/power balance yields a 4.4-second zero-to-60 time, which is as quick as or quicker than pretty much everything in the Stinger’s wide purview. And though launch control wasn’t functional on our early tester, it’s unlikely to help a car that takes off like the Stinger does. Perhaps the most striking facet of the engine’s power delivery is evident in the Stinger’s 5.0-second 5-to-60-mph time—quicker than every machine in our last comparison test of mid-size premium sports sedans. Acceleration is strong with this one.
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