GT420 ON THE TRACK
team. With more time for tweaking, it’s not as unhinged, with a balance that pushes into understeer in the quick corners around the International Circuit at Silverstone, where we drove the GT420. That’s no bad thing, since it gives you confidence to push a bit quicker, with the Stinger’s long wheelbase and extra grip from the Trofeo Rs giving plenty of stability.
It’s reassuring on the brakes, with the hard stop from 140mph-plus at the end of Hangar Straight into Stowe, and into the slow hairpin at Village. In fact, with the reprogrammed ESC fully switched off, you can still coax the rear axle round in slow corners to neutralise any understeer and tighten the car’s line, steering it with the throttle.
The engine is strong at the bottom end and has a punchy mid-range. A back-to-back comparison with the Stinger GT S proves as much, but despite the raucous soundtrack from that very lightly silenced exhaust, it still isn’t the most freerevving motor. There’s also a bit of turbo lag to push through, and trying to modulate the throttle in a corner to trim your line isn’t the easiest because of the current calibration. However, we’re sure this is down to time and the finessing of the set-up. Likewise, the transmission is still not the sharpest; it’s sometimes hesitant on shifts, but given the base Kia had to work with, there’s potential here.
That’s a bonus, because due to the modifications that have given the Stinger more grip, the Kia’s steering is now the weak link. It feels vague and slow.
Despite the weight saving, the car also still feels its now 1,705kg kerbweight, but then it’s not been designed solely with the intention of lapping a track as quickly as possible. It’s also a showcase for the passion and know-how inside Kia when it comes to performance cars. The result is a car that features the same characteristics at its core as the Stinger GT S, only with that car’s level of ability ramped up by a good few notches in every area. One of those characteristics is fun, and the GT420 shows that.
The timescale has been short and the budget minimal; and given more resources in both departments, the team that developed the GT420 would have kept the adaptive dampers and fine-tuned them for greater control. It would be a case of refining and finessing what’s already there – almost as if this project could, theoretically, inform Kia’s performance cars of the not-too-distant future.
Despite much talk, there’s no concrete word on whether any of this will indeed help the development of Kia’s future hotter road cars. But with a Stinger facelift arriving in the next few years and the platform allowing plenty more to be unlocked, as the GT420 proves, never say never. It’s clear that the passion for these projects is alive and well inside Kia.
“The GT420 is a showcase for the passion and know-how inside Kia when it comes to performance cars”