KIA’S NEW KING
First Aussie drive of Korea’s cut-price RWD hero
PITCHING a handsome, eminently worthy value-branded offering in with the pack of wolves that is the premium European set is going to leave someone bloodied. Kia just hopes it’s the opposition, not its dramatic new Stinger.
On paper, this perception-altering rear-drive liftback sedan has all its ducks in a row – strikingly muscular styling, purist drivetrain layout with an all-turbo engine line-up, a dedicated sporting focus and enough packaging proficiency to carry some credibility – yet the gamble of entering a declining global sedan market dominated by German brands with a Korean badge glued to your snout and tail can’t be overstated enough. In Europe and the US, Stinger faces an uphill battle overcoming entrenched brand snobbery, but somehow I don’t think that really applies to Australia.
If there was a car market born for the Stinger to play in, it’s ours. The uncanny timing of Kia’s reardrive flagship to Australian showrooms just moments after Holden will call it quits on 69 years of domestic rear-drive production is orchestrated perfection. When stocks of the current VFII Commodore/calais run dry – unlikely before 2018 – the most affordable rear-drive sedan available in this country will be… Kia Stinger. And let’s not discount the Stinger’s X-factor, an (affordable) gran-turismo presence that may well attract some fairly atypical buyers into a Kia showroom.
With the Stinger’s original launch date of “late August” pushed out by a month due to delayed supply, the two Stingers you see here are preproduction ‘P1’ cars (see sidebar, right), with all the key engineering pieces in place but lacking full-production cabin plastics, as well as fully sorted electronics (check out the video at wheelsmag.com.au).
The Stinger line-up will consist of six model variants (see p62) – three four-potters and three V6s. The Stinger 200S, 200Si, and Gt-line feature the Optima GT’S 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four mounted lengthways, while the Stinger 330S, 330Si, and GT turf the fourcylinder for a full-blooded twin-turbo 3.3-litre V6, with each engine mated exclusively to an Hmc-developed eight-speed automatic.
Our test Stingers aren’t quite to production trim spec but they’re bloody close. Due to a last-minute juggle of suspension componentry, our test V6 is essentially the flagship GT running the fixed-rate dampers from the 330S and 330Si (and non-perforated brake rotors, unlike production V6s) while the Stinger Gt-line four boasts the premium adaptive suspension it will share with the production V6 GT, teamed with the slightly daggy 18-inch wheels and lesser-spec 225/45R18 Continentals worn by the 200S and 200Si. The 330Si and GT V6s wear striking 19s with top-shelf rubber – Continental Contisportcontact 5 tyres measuring 225/40R19 front and 255/35R19 at the rear.
As it turns out, the 272kw/510nm V6 needs every fragment of traction it can get because it’s quick. Seriously quick. Issues with the ESC meant our ‘pre-pro’ version refused to be properly primed off the start line (building revs with your right foot while holding it on the brake with your left), yet it still managed a deeply impressive 5.1sec to 100km/h (bang on Kia’s claim). That’s two tenths shy of the Commodore SS-V Redline automatic we tested in August 2016; a margin the Stinger loses in the first 0-20km/h dash. It’s all down to that launch.
Only beyond 140km/h does the Stinger V6 begin to lose more ground to the Redline. By 150, two tenths behind becomes four, and there’s nearly a full second difference to 200km/h. Highway Patrol coppers might notice but the rest of us shouldn’t worry – the twinturbo V6 Stinger has proper bite. And there’s always its 2.8sec 80-120km/h time as compensation – two tenths faster than an auto SS, though 0.3sec adrift of the searing time we recorded in Ford’s last Falcon Sprints.
For those of us who prefer some aural entertainment to accompany a meaty feast, Kia Australia has gone it alone in exclusively offering an optional sports exhaust on the V6. A bi-modal system that opens its flaps once throttle input exceeds 50 percent, it’s the work of Melbourne company Lumex (who also developed the two-stage systems on Lsa-engined HSVS) and will command around $2000 more on all three V6 trim grades. In our opinion, it’s a mandatory choice.
Without the barky rasp the sports exhaust brings – especially under load from 2500rpm onwards, all the way to the six-five upshift point – Kia’s twin-turbo V6 lacks any discernible character. It serves up less whistle and wastegate commotion than the 2.0-litre four-pot, which is no bad thing, but in unfettled form the Stinger’s boosted V6 gives off major Carnival and Sorento vibes, exposing its working-class gene pool.
The 182kw/353nm four-cylinder (slightly less than it produces in the Optima GT due to a different exhaust system) is a bit of a dark horse too, despite suffering from turbo lag on step-off and, like our GT, zero opportunity to enhance its dragstrip launch ability by winding it up on the brake. Still, 7.2sec to 100km/h and a 15.1sec quarter are solid numbers for the base Stinger’s mid-40-ish starting price. And with the production car’s electronics sorted to ensure a swifter launch, there’s absolutely no reason why the 2.0-litre four won’t approach Kia’s 6.0sec claim.
We tested the red Stinger 2.0T fitted with both fixedrate and adaptive dampers at different stages – each working with the same 18-inch wheels – and given its expected price point, the Stinger four is a sporting bargain. It’s just a shame that the engine doesn’t have even a hint of induction richness to complement the chassis’ obvious talent. Instead, aside from some turbo whoosh, the 2.0-litre is acoustic-free in terms of tuning, though one person’s parts-bin engine transplant is another person’s blank canvas. It’s certainly fit enough to deserve some aftermarket attitude...
Where the 2.0T really comes into its own is dynamically. Even the base car is a pretty sweet package, tuned to deliver firm control with enough suspension suppleness to remain composed on rough surfaces. But it can’t match the finesse and sophistication of the adaptive-damped version.
Both the 2.0T and V6 have been tuned to produce a near-identical driving experience, but you can tell there’s less weight over the Stinger four’s nose. It feels more on its toes than the V6, with sharper turnin, more nuanced balance and crisper steering feel than our 19-inch-wheeled V6 on fixed-rate dampers. But on narrower 18-inch tyres, spirited cornering sees the superbly balanced four arc its tail out earlier, demonstrating its lack of mid-corner grip and corner-exit power down. The top-spec four-pot Gt-line, which gains stickier 19s, will be noticeably superior – 255/35R19 rear Contis do that to a car – but the 200S and 200Si will continue to offer more power than cornering purchase.