Kia Stinger GT S : a dramatically different brand

Kia is a dramatically different brand from the one it was only a few years ago. Gone are the days when producing cheap and not particularly cheerful hatchbacks and SUVs was the South Korean manufacturer’s raison d’être.
This brand repositioning is in no small part thanks to a step change in its approach to car design, a shift brought about by the likes of design boss Peter Schreyer and European design chief Gregory Guillaume, as well as a more fastidious approach to improving the perceived quality of its vehicles.

It wouldn’t be a proper Kia if it didn’t come with a seven-year warranty. You won’t get one of these on an Audi A5 Sportback or a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé, that’s for sure

And when you arrive at the subject of this week’s road test, a new, third element in this evolutionary process becomes evident.
Not only does this striking grand tourer double down on the afore mentioned characteristics of style and quality, but with a rearwheel-drive platform it shows Kia also wants to be taken seriously as a manufacturer of impressively engineered, engaging driver’s cars.
With so much riding on its success as a builder of this next step of Kia’s brand, the Stinger understandably faced a lengthy gestation period. Six years passed between the unveiling of its forerunner, the GT Concept, at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show and the premiere of the finished product at the Detroit show last year.

During that time, Kia hired Albert Biermann, formerly of BMW M division fame, to lead the Stinger’s test and high-performance development regime, and spent hours honing its new flagship on the gruelling Nürburgring Nordschleife.
There’s no denying the Stinger is a brazen statement of intent, particularly when you consider the fact that it’s the first time the manufacturer has put a model into production with the knowledge that it likely won’t turn a profit.
The grounds I have for this conclusion aren’t exactly indisputable, but the car’s fuel economy has certainly taken a slight turn for the worse. It hasn’t been figured or track-tested, yet there are signs that the front discs may be warped or need skimming. See what I mean? The Stinger’s clearly being put to good use right now.
Meanwhile, I’ll take the chance to update you on what seem to be the detailed pros and cons of the car’s driving experience, which I’m now privy to, having, well… you know… given it more than one pretty thorough workout myself.

A V6 engine that’s responsive, torquey and free-revving and a chassis that does rear-driven handling purity, fine cornering balance and a nicely fluent kind of body control still strike me as the Stinger’s chief dynamic assets. I think both are good enough to bear comparison with the various ‘performance’ BMWs, Audis and Jaguars available for north of £40,000.
The outright authority of the car’s handling composure, meanwhile, and the weight, feel, positivity and self-centring of the steering – come to think of it, the whole textural and sensory richness of its driving experience – aren’t quite at the same level. As a rule, when you ask the really probing questions of the Stinger, there’s a certain lack of attention to detail about its answers. The car has driving modes, but its close body control becomes a little bit recalcitrant at the very firmest, Sport+ end of the spectrum, and its steering picks up weight with little discernible improvement in feel.
Funny thing is, you’ve already driven past the nearby Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar and BMW showrooms to get to where you’re going – and you’ve done it without a single twinge of regret.
As you enter the building through huge sliding panes, you’re aware that this showroom stretches for another two storeys above your head and far enough to your left and right to accommodate more gleaming new cars than you can count. You find yourself in a white-walled, pristine handover area, greeted by a sharp- suited ‘relationship manager’ with textbook customer service patter.

He brings you coffee and then walks you around a car with knockout styling, 19in alloy wheels, quad pipes, heated nappa leather seats, masses of standard equipment, a turbocharged six-cylinder petrol engine, driven rear wheels and a limited-slip differential nestling purposefully in between them. It looks every inch an authentic, sporting, premium product and, as you’ve already found out on an earlier test drive, it behaves like one, too. You are a happy bunny.
Shortly thereafter, the man in the sharp suit hands over your keys, and away you drive to set about drawing admiring glances for your new acquisition. You’ve received what you can only conclude has been a f lawless premium-brand customer service experience. And it was brought to you by a brand that, just a few years ago, you’d never have thought capable of any of it: Kia Motors.

Kia Stinger GT S specification

Specs: Price New £40,495; Price as tested £40,495; Options none
Test Data: Engine 3342cc, turbocharged petrol; Power 365bhp at 6000rpm; Torque 510lb ft at 1300-4500rpm; Top speed 168mph; 0-62mph 4.7sec; Claimed fuel economy 28.5mpg; Test fuel economy 27.4mpg; CO2 225g/km; Faults None; Expenses None

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