If you’re used to the usual compact SUVs and sedans from Kia, then the 2018 Kia Stinger GT is going to come across as something unexpected and unique. Or maybe not that unexpected. In 2011, Kia introduced their GT Concept, and the journey has led them from there to the new Kia Stinger GT.
This is a car that Kia believes will define their history as “pre-Stinger” and “post-Stinger” — it’s that important to the brand, and it’s that impressive as a vehicle.
So let’s back up for a moment and talk about the meaning behind a Grand Touring or Gran Turismo vehicle, commonly called a GT. A true GT is not just a four-door family wagon that’s been tricked out to look sportier and tuned to have a more impressive exhaust sound. A true GT is a vehicle that’s been built from the ground up for speed, distance, style, safety, and comfort; they are elegant and fast. GT vehicles are usually front engine with rear-wheel drive, and they are made to transport up to two couples and their luggage comfortably.
Kia set out to design a car that drove as good as it looked; one that could “fit two couples and their things, to arrive in style at a fabulous location, and to also do it incredibly rapidly, ride comfortably, but with a lot of speed.”
How fast can the Kia Stinger GT go? 167 is its top speed, and it can do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds. I’ll come back to that in a moment.
Albert Bierman, the former chief engineer of BMW’s M division, joined Kia in 2015. When he was first going through his interview rounds, he saw some sketches of the Stinger. His response to the sketches was, “that car has to drive as good as it looks.” Once he joined Kia, he made it clear that he wanted to work on the vehicle and make it amazing.
If Kia was going to do it, they wanted the design to be true to the original GT Concept, they wanted to get the proportions just right to really celebrate the fact that it’s a RWD car, and they wanted the performance, handling, and dynamics of the vehicle to deliver on the promise of the design.
Kia says that Bierman also brought a testing prowess to the company. He really pushed the Stinger GT — over 6,000 miles on the Nürburgring, braking runs on a hill in Austria that is known for being “hell on brakes”, which brings up the subject of brakes. The Kia Stinger has Brembo brakes that have been set well. This car, from about 1800 rpm to about 4,000 will “pull like a donkey”, it is really fast, but you’ll feel like you can safely do that because the brakes are great, and they will pull you back in.
The Kia Stinger GT has been winter tested in Sweden, and as a result, the traction control and the handling balance have really been finely tuned. It’s also been extensively tested in the Mojave Desert. Kia says that “this car has been through a lot to bring it to this point.”
Kia wanted the Stinger GT to be able to compete in the premium space against other GT-like cars, so they ensured that the Stinger would have the best technology and all of the amenities. Kia created what they call a reference set, so they took a look at what was available in the space. They looked at the Audi A5 and A7, they looked at the BMW 440 Grand Coupe and the 640 Grand Coupe, and at what Kia considered the penultimate vehicle in this space — the Porsche Panamera. Kia had very lofty, ambitious goals.
The 2018 Kia Stinger GT is all about proportions. They wanted to celebrate rear wheel drive proportions, the critical dimension between a front wheel, front axle center, and the front dash. This space that you can only get with a rear wheel drive vehicle. There is a short front overhang, and the wheels are really pushed out to the corners for a wide, athletic stance. They wanted it to be a fastback, with a sporty silhouette seen in the GT Concept. The Stinger has a beautiful, almost coupe-like shape with a classic GT proportion. The Stinger has broad shoulders that haunch over the rear wheels.
The Kia Stinger GT is not a compact sports performance sedan; it’s larger than the BMW 3 series, it’s larger than the Lexus LS; it’s larger than the other vehicles in this space. With a 114.4″ wheelbase, it’s comparable to an Audi A7 in size.
Kia designers insisted on premium, quality amenities inside the vehicle. They looked at their reference set, and determined that everything you see in the vehicle should be real metal; they used hand-stitching for the dash, steering wheel, middle console, and door panels, basically anywhere you look. The Napa hides used for the seats are hand selected and approved.
The Kia Stinger GT is designed for long-distance motoring, but it’s also designed to be used in high-performance situations, so they worked very closely with their seat designers and engineers to develop a seat package that could fulfill both of those promises. The driver’s seat has a 16-way and 12-way front seat for the driver and passenger. Kia added an air-cell lumbar adjustable bolster, which is new for them; you can pull the bolsters in to give you extra support when hugging curves, or you can move them out for a more laid-back, comfortable ride.
The Kia Stinger has a new Harman Kardon sound system; it has 720 watts, 15 high-performance speakers, under seat subwoofers, Clari-Fi Digital Music Restoration Technology, and the 3rd-generation UVO infotainment system which works with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
The Stinger also has a heads-up display that shows the speed limit along with your speed, turn by turn navigation, distance to the next turn, and blind spot detection.
Worth pointing out is that the Stinger is Kia’s first front wheel drive car that is also available in AWD on both the 4-cylinder and the V6 model. The all-wheel-drive system was specifically designed around this car; it is sport oriented, and it is capable of shifting up to 50% of the torque to the front axle. It is controlled by an electronically controlled rear coupling.
The Stinger has five distinct drive modes that you can select with the simple twist of a knob, and it is aerodynamic; it has functional air vents on the sides which allows air to pass through the front and distribute on either side of the wheel well. It allows the air to flow out on the outside of the wheel well, mainly to control the turbulence that forms on the outside of the wheels when you’re going very fast, but more importantly, it deflects air over the brakes on the inside, which helps greatly on the cooling performance.
One of the other challenges that Kia faced was airflow traveling over and under the car when the vehicle was going at top speeds. At 167 mph, it is critical to manage the downforce on the vehicle. Kia considered several different solutions — they looked at what Audi and Porsche use, which is an extendable rear spoiler — but those type spoilers are relatively heavy, they have a relatively complex mechanical system, and they are also very costly. Kia challenged their engineers to work with the folks in their wind chamber, and they came up with a duck-tail shaped extension on the rear deck lid. It took hundreds of hours to perfect the shape to get the right level of down-force, but the end result is a functional yet elegant solution that delivers the same results as the German premium sedans’ mechanical spoiler.
The Stinger has a full belly pan all the way from the nose to the rear differential to manage airflow and make the vehicle better able to handle turbulence and for aerodynamics. Air ducts in the front direct the flow up and over the powertrain to keep it cool during high-performance conditions.
Stingers come with Michelin Pilot Sport tires that have been specifically tuned for the car; they are great for highway, track, wet conditions, and they offer excellent steering control. But most importantly, Kia wanted to make sure that the tires would last a long time.
To do a competitive comparison, you’d have to look at several other vehicles that are similarly outfitted. Kia directly compares their Stinger GT with the Audi S5, the BMW 440i GC, the BMW 640i GC, and the Porsche Panamera. At 365 hp, the Stinger has more horsepower than all of the others; it’s 376 lb-ft torque beats all of the others, and its top speed of 167 is higher than all of the others. It can do 0-60 in 4.7 seconds, and the Audi S5 just beats it with 4.5.
Really? Really.
The Kia Stinger has 42.6″ front legroom which beats all the others, and it has 36.4 rear legroom which also beats the others. It’s 23.3 square feet of cargo volume is more than the others have, although the BMW 640i GC and the Porsche Panamera have more total passenger volume, the Porsche Panamera is the only one that tops the Stinger in total interior volume.
Of course, this is what really commanded my attention. The starting MSRP for the Audi S5 SB is $54,400. The BMW 440i GC starts at $48,300, and the BMW 640i GC starts at $81,400; the Porsche Panamera starts at $85,000 — although good luck getting a true base model. The Kia Stinger GT? It starts at $38,350. Let that sink in for a moment … we’re talking about a Kia that holds its own with European luxury touring models for a fraction of the price. Incredible.
So … all that was left was to drive the beast.
We started in Burbank and headed through a driving course that took us through the mountainous terrain outside of LA. This is easily the fastest vehicle I’ve driven in some time (possibly ever), and I thrilled at the engine’s response to my foot on the gas.
I have to admit (now that I’m out of LA and can no longer get a ticket for it (I hope)) that at one point Helena, my navigator, told me to turn too soon. We were at a stop light, in the turn lane, and we needed to go straight to turn right at the next exit. I waited for the light to change and then punched the gas to get ahead of all the other traffic in the competing lanes. I felt like I was controlling a rocket! The Stinger GT took off like a bolt, left all the other traffic behind, and as I whipped into the correct turn, I even managed to do a little fishtail. It was exhilarating, and a little bit scary because at that exact moment I had no doubt that the car was a badass.
Cruising on the highway, the Stinger chewed the pavement; 80 is a great cruising speed — but I had to remind myself that we were in California and not Texas; 65 was actually the speed limit, oops. If we’d had 10 hours to drive (rather than just 4 or 5), or if I’d had a further destination to get to, I would have been happy to do it; the Stinger was that comfortable and that fun to drive. The Harman Kardon sound system was impressive, and it served up great music for our drive.
True story: I walked out of our hotel in Burbank to wait for a Lyft, and there was this gorgeous red sports car sitting in front of me as I exited, pulled up at the curb. All I really saw was the rear end in front of me. Based on the other vehicles in the parking lot, I just assumed it was a Maserati or something similar. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I noticed the Kia emblem on the wheel closest to me.
We ended our driving day at Magic Mountain, where Kia had set up a course for us. Vincent Nguyen of SlashGear drove, and I came along for the ride; it was fun, my iced coffee survived, and if you watch closely he only made me scream once. 😉
If you’ve dreamed of driving a car that is capable of crazy speeds yet can comfortably fit your family, then you’ve probably dreamed about the Porsche Panamera. If you can get over the fact that the Stinger GT is a Kia and not a Porsche, then you’ll be able to enjoy and even faster car for half the price. If I was looking to buy a GT-type vehicle, I know which one I’d pick; my only quibble is that the Stinger isn’t available as a stick shift.
You can get into a Stinger for as low as $31,900; the premium model is $37,100. The Kia Stinger GT is $38,350, the GT1 is $43,250, and GT2 is $49,200 (that’s the model we were driving); you can add AWD to any of them for $2,200. You can learn more about the 2018 Kia Stinger here.
Disclosure: Kia paid for my room and meals; there were no conditions or expectations made regarding what I chose to write about regarding my experience.