Motor Trend - 2018 KIA STINGER 2.0 FIRST TEST

[FluffyBottoms]

Positive things to say about the 2.0 Stinger.

A funny thing happened on the way back from the Mojave Desert the other day. Someone tossed me the keys to a Kia, and I decided to take the long way home, seeking out some of the great driver’s roads that snake through the San Gabriel Mountains before heading down the Angeles Crest Highway into the hustling bustle of the City of Angels. Kia and driver’s roads … it sounds an unlikely combination. But the 2018 Kia Stinger is a car that will shatter your perceptions about Korea’s value brand.

Here the thing: My ride was the base Stinger, the one powered by the 255-hp turbocharged four-banger, rolling on 18-inch alloys shod with modest section 225/45 Bridgestone Potenza tires, not the loaded, top-of-the-range, $49,500 GT, with the punchy 365-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 under the hood and bigger wheels and tires all round. The only option fitted was the $2,000 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems package, which bundles together active safety technologies such as forward collision warning, lane keeping assistance, and rear cross-traffic alerts. Total price? $33,900.

It’s a steal. There isn’t a better sporty, rear-drive, four-door coupe for the money in the business. Actually, there simply isn’t any other sporty, rear-drive, four-door coupe for the money, period. This Kia is in a class all its own.

The Stinger looks the part, with a sweeping roofline, a broad shouldered stance, and strong graphics. From some angles there are distant echoes of the Maserati 3200 GT designed by Giugiaro in the late 1990s; it’s a trick of the eye, of course, because the two cars are completely different, but it speaks to the effort Kia—and now also Hyundai—design supremo Peter Schreyer put into a car that in many ways has been a personal passion project. I recall Schreyer showing me a sketch of a car that would become the Kia GT concept unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Show—harbinger of the Stinger—and insisting he was going to get it made. Continue reading...

 

[SVW]

Thank you very much. Would love to see more reviews about the 2.0. In Germany interior of the base model is the same as for the 3.3 GT, except the Nappa. There are two optional packages for the 2.0: Exclusive (Harman Kardon soundsystem, LEDs, Seat cooling, 19 inch alloys) and Techology (360 camera, ASCC, RCTA). It weighs 180kg less with RWD. Any further impressions about engine performance as an everday driver (not track performance) would be interesting. Still not made up my mind. Drove the 3.3 for a short testdrive. 2.0 still not available over here.

 

[Bamm1]

Positive things to say about the 2.0 Stinger.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/kia/stinger/2018/2018-kia-stinger-20-first-test-review/

So much for 5.9 seconds to 60. Don't over promise Kia. I was really hoping it would not be this much slower than the Accord Touring 2.0T in a straight line*.

Another "almost" there review. I think Albert Biermann came into this project when it was closer to the finish than the start. So that may explain why he could not get rid of all of the shortcomings. But it seems he did a really good job with what he had to work with.

I don't think yellow is coming to the US. Maybe they will make some kind of limited "launch edition" in yellow. That would be pretty cool.

* http://www.motortrend.com/cars/hond...8-honda-accord-touring-20t-comparison-review/

 

[Merkur720]

Nice write up - Interesting that the base model they tested showed ventilated seats. Clearly all these tests continue to be "pre-production" US models.

 

[Kia Stinger]

What I get from this article is - the 2.0 Stinger isn't quite a BMW and it isn't quite an Audi - but it's also isn't priced like either. The thing is - the reviewer seems very impressed about a Stinger even being compared to these two premium players at all. Cadillac didn't do this well with the CTS when it first came out - and Cadillac has a long history and was once considered "The Standard of the World". Kia has done a much better job with it's first attempt at a BMW competitor than Cadillac did...

 

[david norman]

What I get from this article is - the 2.0 Stinger isn't quite a BMW and it isn't quite an Audi - but it's also isn't priced like either. The thing is - the reviewer seems very impressed about a Stinger even being compared to these two premium players at all. Cadillac didn't do this well with the CTS when it first came out - and Cadillac has a long history and was once considered "The Standard of the World". Kia has done a much better job with it's first attempt at a BMW competitor than Cadillac did...

Exactly. In the padt few years Kia has done something fantastic with their cars that almost no one has done before.

 

[admonite]

RWD and room for 4 adults. (At least according to some reports, I still need to sit in one). I'm willing to look at fwd based awd alternatives, but I keep coming back to the Stinger because it's rwd. Even if it has to be the 2.0 . When I got my 6 cylinder G8 many people on the forum cried that it wasn't any faster than a v6 accord 0-60. The difference.... I found out .... is in which wheels deliver the power. You may be able to make a fwd car go faster...but you'll want to make the rwd car go fast. It's just more enjoyable.

 

[jbweb7]

Anybody else notice the discrepancy in the price in the article and the "as tested" part at the conclusion? He quoted $33,900 with the $2000 safety features. The as tested was price is $34,800. I really wish the article number was in fact the correct price.

 

[The Big Guy]

Anybody else notice the discrepancy in the price in the article and the "as tested" part at the conclusion? He quoted $33,900 with the $2000 safety features. The as tested was price is $34,800. I really wish the article number was in fact the correct price.

There’s always deals to be made. I’ve never paid the msrp ever for every vehicle I bought. There already offering almost $7000 off for leases (still would never do it).