- Messages
- 328
- Likes
- 32
- State
- Non-US
- Country
- South Korea
If you believe voices in certain corners of the Internet, there's a dearth of affordable rear-wheel drive sedans on the market. Well, it's time for those corners to put up or shut up, because Kia has been listening, and the result is called the Stinger. The vehicle began life as a concept car at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, and with much made of its N?rburgring-honed handling, it's clear that Kia wants to attract drivers who would normally look at offerings from BMW and Jaguar.
Underneath that grill-covered (we counted 12!) fastback body is a longitudinally mounted engine-either a 2.0L turbocharged inline four (255hp/190kW) or a 3.3L twin-turbo V6 (365hp/272kW) in the Stinger GT-with options for rear- or all-wheel drive. Opt for the former and you get a mechanical limited slip differential; choose the latter and benefit from Kia's new dynamic torque vectoring system.
The only choice of transmission is an eight-speed automatic; Kia might have been listening to the Internet enthusiast, but it recognizes that the expense of engineering a manual gearbox is probably commercial suicide. The Stinger GT also features a hefty set of vented Brembo brakes behind its 19-inch wheels (wrapped in super-sticky summer tires, naturally).
Electronics control the chassis (Macpherson struts at the front, multi-links at the rear) letting the driver optimize the ride and handling for comfort or canyon carving. And there will be the full complement of advanced driver assists, from adaptive cruise and lane keeping to collision alerts, emergency braking, and even drowsiness detection.
The car was certainly one of the highlights of this year's North American International Auto Show, the wraps having been taken off the night before the press preview began. The Stinger GT won't be quite as fast as a BMW M4 or Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrofoglio-0-62mph (0-100km/h) in 5.1 seconds and a top speed of 167mph (269km/h)-it also should significantly undercut those Europeans. Although pricing isn't available yet, we expect it to fall between $35,000 and $50,000 (~?30,000 and ?45,000).
Read more on Ars Technica Addendum.
