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Kia Motors America's (KMA) all-new 2018 Stinger has been named to Wards 10 Best Engines list. The performance-oriented GT trim's 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 was selected among a field of 32 powertrains for its exceptional power delivery, responsiveness and refinement. The list focuses on engines that are new to the market or have been significantly improved over the previous year. WardsAuto editors conduct evaluations based on several criteria, including horsepower, torque, technology, observed fuel economy, relative competitiveness and noise characteristics. This is the 24th year for the competition.
"This latest honor from WardsAuto reconfirms the Kia Stinger's gran turismo credentials, which are the result of the superb work of our global engineering and performance development teams," said Orth Hedrick, vice president product planning, KMA. "The world-class 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 is the perfect motivator for the Stinger platform and ensures this car drives as good as it looks."
Oriented longitudinally and set rearward beneath the long, low, and sculpted hood, the Stinger's available 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 Lambda II engine produces 365 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and offers 376 lb.-ft. of torque from 1,350 ? 4,500 rpm. With more power on tap than the Audi S5 Sportback, BMW 440i Gran Coupe, and Infiniti Q501, the Stinger GT is a worthy challenger to unexpected competition. As such, the Stinger GT accelerates to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, quicker than the 3.0-liter six-cylinder Porsche Panamera. Pushing the twin turbocharged V6 to its full potential allows the Stinger GT to achieve a governed top speed of 167 mph.
The car's development took place across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America, but the N?rburgring's grueling Nordschleife is where the Stinger was honed. With 73 corners and nearly 1,000 feet of elevation changes over 12.9 miles the "Green Hell" can chew up and spit out a car of lesser mettle in just one lap. Kia's engineers put every development Stinger through a minimum of 480 laps (equivalent to 6,214 miles) of high-stress driving around the Nordschleife for quality, reliability and durability testing. The constant combination of hard acceleration, rapid deceleration, heavy cornering, changing surfaces and camber offers an unrivaled test of dynamic prowess and the distance covered during the Stinger's development resulted in nearly 100,000 miles of on-road testing.
"It's no easy task to meet or beat the world's best premium 6-cylinder engines," says Drew Winter, Senior Content Director at WardsAuto. "The Kia Stinger GT's twin-turbo V-6 bulldozed its way onto the 2018 Wards 10 Best Engines list with a potent mixture of refinement, value and thunderous torque that takes the Kia brand to a whole new level in the hierarchy of global automakers."
All vehicles named to the list must have a base price under $63,000. The Stinger GT equipped with the 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 has a base price of $38,350
