New Kia to Sting German rivals

It’s always good news to hear of a new motoring event in Scotland. Goodwood and even Silverstone events aren’t convenient if you live in Dundee. This new event is at Inveraray Castle and is called the Argyll Festival of Performance. It takes place on June 2/3 and will feature classic road and racing cars, the latter including famous Scottish drivers’ cars such as Jim Clark’s Lotus 32B and Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell 001. Tickets are on sale now and you can get them via www.seetickets.com. MEET Stinger, Kia’s dramatic new high-performance GT saloon. This is Kia showing us that it knows how to make grown-up and exciting cars, not just good value family vehicles with a long warranty.

Hyundai, which is part of the same group as Kia, has just done the same thing, but instead of building a 165mph GT, they created the i30n hot hatch.

And the Stinger and the i30n were both overseen by Albert Biermann who used to work for BMW. Al is a big talent.

Several different Stingers will be available – including one powered by a diesel engine – but if we want to find out if Kia can build a sexy car we’d better try the hot one.

Called the GT S, the top model is powered by a twinturbo 3.3-litre V6 engine which produces 365bhp. That might not be much for a Merc AMG or a BMW M Series, but it’s in a different league for Kia.

It’s enough power to propel the 1.8 tonne Stinger to 168mph and from 0-60mph in 4.7sec.

The styling speaks for itself. You be the judge when you see one on Kia Stinger GT S Four-door saloon

3.3-litre V6, 365bhp 0-60mph: 4.7sec Fuel consumption: 28.5mpg

the road because it looks even better in the metal than it does in photographs – and that’s saying something. I saw one on the motorway the other day, being driven by another journalist, and from a distance I thought I was looking at the back of a Maserati. Whatever, its styling works for me.

The inside is suitably straightforward as you’d expect from a Kia, and I mean that in a positive