Kia Stinger Makes Debut At Sunday Night Detroit Auto Show Event

 
kia-stinger-1
Kia brought members of the international media to the Russell Industrial Complex just a couple miles from Cobo Hall where the North American International (nee Detroit) Auto Show kicks off in the morning.
Kia are aiming for the Stinger to be the achievable five-door sports coupe.  While many many scoff at this, with good justification, KIA snapped up Albert Biermann from BMW’s M division a few years ago and have spent considerable time developing the Stinger at “The Ring”.

The Stinger is roughly BMW 3-Series sized and will be offered with two different engines.  A 2.0-liter turbo developing 255 horsepower and 260 torque, or a twin-turbo 3.3-liter V6 developing 365 horsepower and 376 torque.  KIA is targeting 5.1 for a 0-60 MPH time.
More details will be forthcoming and no on-sale date was announced, though that may come tomorrow at the show.  It will be interesting to see if KIA can execute on some very ambitious goals of taking on BMW, Audi and Mercedes with the Stinger.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The maximum upload file size: 64 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here

14 responses to “Kia Stinger Makes Debut At Sunday Night Detroit Auto Show Event”

  1. CraigSu Avatar
    CraigSu

    Well, it definitely doesn’t look like the X4/X6 so it’s got that much going for it.

    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      No, kind of half-way between the 4-series Gran Coupe and the 3-series GT (the high tail), but with a longer hood and the front axle further forward.
      To be unkind it looks like an Optima has been put through one of those graphics apps that distorts everything. The styling shares so many Kia design signatures but the proportions are a bit odd in places, eg the relationship between the grille, headlights and side intakes looks a bit off to me. Hard to judge from photos, but I won’t hold my breath for a rhd version to see in the flesh.

  2. Mister Sterling Avatar
    Mister Sterling

    Goodbye SS, hello Stinger

  3. Hatchtopia Avatar

    That chrome strip over the top of the side windows makes a lot more sense on this than the four-door. Any new hatchback is a good thing in my book.

  4. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

    A five-door fastback?

  5. Fred Talmadge Avatar
    Fred Talmadge

    The interior is a decent copy of the Audi A3. Probably not as nice, but still.

    1. outback_ute Avatar
      outback_ute

      Looks M-B to me, the same 3 round vents and stuck-on screen.

  6. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    I want to be exited – a performance RWD hatchback of reasonable size, and not from Germany is theoretically appealing. But then I got excited over the Genesis coupe too.
    Also, it needs about 25% fewer lines and details. More Kia of 5 years ago than Hyundai of 5 years ago.

    1. wunno sev Avatar
      wunno sev

      i don’t know what it is about these Korean cars – they have everything i think they should need to be exciting, and then i’m just not excited.
      maybe it’s that Kia is ~20 years late for a change in logo. the one they have now looks like like something from an off-brand refrigerator.

      1. wunno sev Avatar
        wunno sev

        i guess i should also specify that i’ve driven plenty of rental Kias and Hyundais and i hated them all. resolutely boring cars with numb steering and flat seats every time. i know, they’re rentals, but the equivalent Fords, Chevrolets, etc are much better cars to drive, at least in the last half-decade or so.

      2. Maymar Avatar
        Maymar

        For me, a lot of it has been the little intangible stuff. The Koreans still haven’t built a great driver’s car (short of slapping a Kia badge on an old Lotus Elan), even if they’ve put forth some things that had decent numbers. Also, the interiors were usually about 90% good, with a couple appalling details (although I spent some time in a new loaded Sorento recently, and found nothing objectionable).
        I’ll be happy for this to be great, although odds are it’ll be priced on par with a stripper 320i, which is still out of my budget.

  7. neight428 Avatar
    neight428

    It’s a step toward the interesting, so I’m in favor. I’d also say I’m more likely to buy it than the Germans its design team had in mind given my fatal fear of relatively excessive depreciation, though I’m not sure how this will fare on that measure.

  8. Ross Ballot Avatar
    Ross Ballot

    This is what happens when a G8, an A7, a Giulia, and a Kia all cross-breed.
    I like it. Or maybe I just like that there’s another RWD sedan soon to be on sale.

  9. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    This intrigues me. I look forward to hearing more about it.