Kia’s Stinger to hit showrooms this year

Jim Robinson
Metroland Media

DETROIT, MICH. – At the Paris Auto Show in September Kia global president and Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, said that if there was one Kia new-car debut to see in 2017, make it Detroit.

All was revealed on the eve of the 2017 North American Auto Show with the world premiere of the Kia Stinger, a five-seat luxury fastback.

The Stinger name comes from the GT4 Stinger Concept also shown in Detroit in 2014. But the 2018 Stinger shown this week in Detroit is a full production model and a Grand Turismo in every way.

While a sedan, it has a coupe-like, fastback roofline with an overall length of 109.2 inches – greater than the BMW 4 Gran Coupe, Lexus GS and Mercedes-Benz CLS.

It will arrive later in the year with pricing announced closer to the launch date.

Owners will have a choice of two engines starting with a 2.0-litre twin turbo, direct injection inline four-cylinder with an estimated 255 hp and 260 lb/ft of torque.

The other is a 3.3-litre V6 also with direct injection and twin turbos producing and estimated 365 hp and 376 lb/ft. Kia thinks, when testing in completed, the V6 should be able to do 0-100 km/h in 5.1 seconds.

Available with front- or all-wheel-drive, Stinger incorporates a second-generation eight-speed automatic transmission.

There will be a choice of five different shift patterns through a drive mode selector.

While the Stinger is setup for rear-drive bias, the AWD system now features Dynamic Torque Vectoring Control that gauges driver inputs and road conditions and automatically applies power and braking force to the appropriate wheels to maintain course in adverse conditions.

Rear-drive vehicles get the benefit of a mechanical limited slip differential to help evenly distribute power through the rear wheels.