Fergalis
Member
Another good Kiwi review:
We like: Fast, fun to drive, good chassis and braking technology.
We don't like: Flat engine note, fussy styling detail, poor rear-seat comfort.
In this age of platform-sharing and all things SUV, you might wonder how a mainstream maker like Kia can justify something as niche as a standalone large sedan with rear-drive and enthusiast aspirations.
There are two answers to that. First, the new Stinger is doing a great job in raising the Korean brand's profile in Europe, where the idiosyncrasies of market-position and pricing mean it's generally being mentioned in the same breath as models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Second, it's not really standalone. Stinger benefits from parent company Kia's current fixation with its Genesis luxury brand: that's where the rear-drive platform comes from.
Lucky Kia, then.
There's a Stinger GT-Line for $60k that'd suit somebody stepping out of a Commodore SV6, for example.
Sure, it's a four-cylinder, but with 193kW/353Nm it's pretty close to ye olde Commie (210kW/350Nm).
Our test GT Sport is your full-size: twin-turbo V6, sports suspension, proper limited-slip differential, torque vectoring, Brembo brake package and mixed-sized tyres. Both GT models have Dynamic Stability Damping Control (DSDC), but the Sport also has a launch control function.
The $70k Sport sits neatly between the old Commodore SS and SS-V Redline models in terms of price. Okay, it doesn't have a howling V8 engine, but with 272kW/510Nm it's just as fast and full of trick chassis technology.
It'll possibly be an even better match for the forthcoming ZB-generation Commodore VXR, but I haven't driven that yet and we don't know the Kiwi prices, so that's something to consider another day. Plus the VXR is all-wheel drive, so it's a whole other thing when the topic for today is RWD. You can still buy an Aussie SS-V Redline, you know. Get yours now. Stinger is a Kia sedan from Seoul with soul
We like: Fast, fun to drive, good chassis and braking technology.
We don't like: Flat engine note, fussy styling detail, poor rear-seat comfort.
In this age of platform-sharing and all things SUV, you might wonder how a mainstream maker like Kia can justify something as niche as a standalone large sedan with rear-drive and enthusiast aspirations.
There are two answers to that. First, the new Stinger is doing a great job in raising the Korean brand's profile in Europe, where the idiosyncrasies of market-position and pricing mean it's generally being mentioned in the same breath as models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Second, it's not really standalone. Stinger benefits from parent company Kia's current fixation with its Genesis luxury brand: that's where the rear-drive platform comes from.
Lucky Kia, then.
There's a Stinger GT-Line for $60k that'd suit somebody stepping out of a Commodore SV6, for example.
Sure, it's a four-cylinder, but with 193kW/353Nm it's pretty close to ye olde Commie (210kW/350Nm).
Our test GT Sport is your full-size: twin-turbo V6, sports suspension, proper limited-slip differential, torque vectoring, Brembo brake package and mixed-sized tyres. Both GT models have Dynamic Stability Damping Control (DSDC), but the Sport also has a launch control function.
The $70k Sport sits neatly between the old Commodore SS and SS-V Redline models in terms of price. Okay, it doesn't have a howling V8 engine, but with 272kW/510Nm it's just as fast and full of trick chassis technology.
It'll possibly be an even better match for the forthcoming ZB-generation Commodore VXR, but I haven't driven that yet and we don't know the Kiwi prices, so that's something to consider another day. Plus the VXR is all-wheel drive, so it's a whole other thing when the topic for today is RWD. You can still buy an Aussie SS-V Redline, you know. Get yours now. Stinger is a Kia sedan from Seoul with soul
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