Tag: KIA

2020 Kia Rio GT-Line Review

The 2020 Kia Rio GT-Line is the tropical-themed warm hatch from that tries really, really hard to please. Like, really hard.

I am absolutely loving the wave of warm hatches we have now. Most of them are in what industry nerds call the C-segment – Focus ST-Line, Hyundai i30 N-Line, Kia Cerato GT-Line , Renault Megane GT-Line, Peugeot 308 GT – it’s a good list.

Step back to the B segment and it’s not so busy. IN fact, you’re kind of looking at it (for the moment) – the Kia Rio GT-Line. This must be one of the most unexpected warm hatches to appear and it knows it. And it tries so hard to make you like it, which is nice, because there’s already a lot to like in the Rio.

How much is a Kia Rio GT-Line and what do I get?

$23,950 + ORC

It’s a Kia, so you get a ton of stuff crammed into this little package. You get air-conditioning, 17-inch wheels, reversing camera, rear parkings sensors, cruise control, LED fog lamps, keyless entry and start, projector headlights, fake leather interior, powered and heated door mirrors, power windows and a space-saver spare.

The six speaker stereo is run from the 7.0-inch touchscreen with Kia’s quite good version of its media software (rather than the excellent version in the Seltos). It also has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so the lack of GPS or sat nav is no big deal.

There’s only one free colour – Clear White. The Aurora Black, Signal Red, Silkey Silver and the Mighty Yellow in the photos are another $520. Hmmm.

Safety – 5 stars (ANCAP, Sept 2017)

The Rio arrives from South Korea with six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB (low speed), forward collision warning, lane departure warning and driver attention detection.

You also get three top-tether anchors and two ISOFIX points.

Warranty and Servicing

The Rio comes with a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty with roadside assist.

Annoyingly, you have to drop in to your dealer every 12 months or 10,000km but it’s a city car, so that might not be a big deal, I guess. A bigger deal is that the servicing is a bit on the pricey side. It’s fixed-price and very comprehensive but the cheapest service is $285 and the fourth is a huge $625. Total servicing cost over seven years is $3202 or $457 per year. That’s a lot.

Not a Mercedes a lot, but it’s over ten percent of the new car value.

Wait, isn’t there a facelifted Kia Rio GT-Line coming?

There is a lightly updated Rio on the way, but don’t expect any major changes on the styling or handling front. The new car looks a bit different and has a bigger touchscreen. It also has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but no wireless charging pad…so…

The upgraded Rio GT-Line You also get forward collision warning, lane keep assist, driver attention detection and high beam assist.

Look and feel

I do like the cut of this thing’s jib. That’s an old person’s way of saying it’s a good looking car. In this vivid yellow, I reckon it really works in a bumblebee kind of way. The wheels on their own are total old man rims but bolt them on the Rio and it all suddenly works.

The GT-Line additions are commendably modest, mostly black surrounds and inserts, but the job as you can see, is done.

It’s very contemprorary Kia in here, which is to say it’s pretty good. The screen looks lifted from a bigger car and really dominates the small-but-roomy cabin. The materials (fake leather or not, doesn’t matter) feel like they’re from something more expensive and that’s a bonus.

Six-footers can squeeze in the back behind other six-footers, but I don’t recommend it for long trips. You get cupholders int eh front but not in the back but all four doors score a bottle holder each.

The boot is actually not bad at 325 litres – that’s bigger than a Mazda3 hatch (from memory), and bigger than a Mazda2 by a whopping 75 litres. All seats down and space triples to 980 litres.

As it’s a small car, its 10.2 metre turning circle is probably pertinent. Not small but not big, either.

Drivetrain and chassis

The GT-Line in Rio is mostly courtesy of the funky little 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo. If you don’t like a gravelly three-cylinder, you’re just a sourpuss.

Shared with the Picanto GT, it serves up 88kW at 6300rpm and 172Nm between 1500rpm and 4000rpm. And it does it vocally.

Getting the power down to the front wheels is a seven-speed twin-clutch transmission shared with Hyundai.

There’s not much to report on the chassis. Tuned by the local team, it’s mostly centred around improving the handling from the base model. The steering has had some tweaks, too.

To that end, the dampers are stiffer but you do get some fairly expensive factory-fit Continental ConiSportContact 2 rubber measuring 205/45. They’re $250 a throw, if you’re interested.

Driving

The Rio GT-Line has a real old school hot hatch feel but without the hot hatch performance. And that’s perfectly fine by me, not everything has to be a rocket and therefore over thirty grand.

Like the Cerato GT, the suspension is very stiff and very keen to let you know what’s going on underneath you. That might tire casual drivers but I really enjoyed the constant communication. I applaud it, in fact.

The payback for the fidget is that the GT-Line is a bit of a suburban demon – turning the wheel yields instant results, the opposite of what happens on the skinny eco tyres of the base model. The steering is very light and doesn’t chase feel, but you can feel those Continental tyres bite and that’s good enough at this level.

Couple that with the enthusiastic 1.0-litre turbo which cheerfully delivers its power with a trademark triple cylinder growl. You are always aware of the engine (yes, it’s noisy) but it’s competing with tyre and road noise.

So the Rio isn’t the last word in refinement, but as I said, this is the small warm hatch on the market today, so you get what you’re given.

Competition

There’s no real direct competition for the Rio GT-Line. The Suzuki Swift Sport (also updated this year) is really from the light car class the Picanto lives in but is priced well above the Rio GT-Line. The manual version is good, the CVT…not so much. It’s probably the better car, but costs more upfront, is more expensive to run, has less stuff and is smaller.

The Ford Fiesta ST is from the same class but way more expensive and in another league (not that the Rio is looking for the same customers). There’s also an i20 N from sister brand Hyundai, but again, it’s way over this car’s head.

Redline Recommendation

I think this car is great fun despite its shortcomings, none of which are scary. It’s very firm and busy when you’re on all but the absolute smoothest of surfaces and isn’t the cheapest car to service owing to the turbo engine and short service gaps.

But it really is great fun to chuck around and is a good choice for you or your kids’ first car (new or used). It’s a pity you can’t get a manual…

I love a car that tries so hard and that’s not saying it’s a try-hard – it delivers lightweight chassis thrills without all the insurance dramas and gives you plenty of gear for the dragging commute.

June 12, 2020
2020 Kia Sorento Black Edition: A dark goodbye

The 2020 Kia Sorento Black Edition is the swansong special for the soon-to-depart third-generation large SUV from South Korea.

Goodbyes are always hard, but for the hard-nosed car buyer, that means blood in the water. Couple that with an unexpected global economic shock and you’ve got cars to shift.

Special editions are a good way to do that and the Sorento’s final special is the rather attractive Black Edition.

How much is a 2020 Kia Sorento Black Edition and what do I get?

Kia Sorento Black Edition V6: $49,190
Kia Sorento Black Edition AWD diesel: $52,960

Most of the time these specials are based on a particular spec with a few extras thrown at them but for this one, it’s hard to tell. Kia says the spec sits between the SLi and GT-Line. Seems legit.

For your money you get 19-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, active cruise control, sat nav, auto headlights and wipers, panoramic sunroof, fake leather interior, heated and folding power mirrors and a full-size spare.

The Black bit means those tasty black alloys (reminds me of the blade designs in the 747-8’s GEnx turbofan engine), gloss black grille and roof racks, dark chrome door blades and black side mirror covers. The extras looks great in this Snow White Pearl and you can also get Aurora Black and Silky Silver (all for $595 extra). Clear white is a freebie.

Six speakers doesn’t sound like very many for a car this big, but they do the job. You get DAB digital radio thrown in as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The 8.0-inch touchscreen works well, the base software isn’t bad at all (it’s shared with Hyundai, right down to the font) and it’s easy to use.

Safety – 5 stars (ANCAP, October 2017)

The Sorento scores six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB (low speed), forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keep assist and driver fatigue warning.

Slightly stingily, it’s missing a few key bits like reverse cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring which I reckon will be standard on the new fourth-gen model. Don’t ask me why, it’s just a feeling.

You also get two ISOFIX and three top-tether anchor points for the baby and child seats. There are neither of these on third row.

Warranty and Servicing

7 years/unlimited km warranty
7 years/105,000km fixed-price servicing

Kia’s excellent – and industry-leading – seven year/unlimited kilometre warranty runs alongside fixed-price servicing for your first seven services. With service intervals at 12 months/15,000km, if you’re an above average mile muncher, it won’t go the full distance of the warranty.

The seven services cost $3081 or $440.15 each (roughly) which is a bargain for such a big bruiser.

Roadside assist starts you off with 12 months and is extended for another year every time you service with Kia.

Look and feel

The Sorento is a big unit but never really looks as big as it is. It’s a bit slabby from the side but this version is way better looking than its predecessor. This Sorento has a visual link to other cars in the range, most notably the Sportage, which is a quite striking machine. The big imposing grille looks great in black, as do those awesome wheels. It’s looking its age out the back, though.

142 litres / 605 litres / 1662 litres / Legroom galore / Second row in place

I’ve gone to town with the interior photos so you can see all the cabin space and configurations. For up to five passengers, there is a ton of room in here. The middle row is swimming in space and will be fine even for surly 17 year-olds. Comfy, too, are all the seats except the third row. They’re a bit upright and you’ll have your knees in your face if you’re over 120cm. If you need all seven seats all the time, get a Carnival.

And I’m not saying Carnival because it’s another Kia but because it’s the best people moving device under a million dollars, basically.

Let’s not forget the figures – six cupholders, four bottle holders, a big centre console and boot space for days. You start with 142 litres, move to 605 with the back row folded away and then with two rows down, you get 1662 litres, which I think is probably a tad conservative.

Drivetrain and Chassis

You can have the Sorento in 2.2-litre turbo diesel or with the big 3.5-litre, naturally-aspirated Lambda II petrol V6.

An all-alloy unit, it produces 206kW at 6300rpm, and 336Nm at 5000rpm. That’s not a ton of torque, but given it’s front-wheel drive only, the off-road capability is somewhat moot.

The transmission is Kia’s own eight-speed automatic to help shift its 1875kg mass.

There’s nothing startling to report on the chassis, but the big 19s come with Hankook Dynapro HP2s measuring 235/55.

The brakes are huge, with 320mm ventilated discs up front and 305mm solid discs at the rear.

Driving

I’ve driven a few Sorentos in my time and have always come away impressed with the way it handles its bulk. When you’ve got runaway best-sellers like the Kluger in your class – surely the most boring large SUV on offer today – you have a big target to hit.

And Kia hits it. The 3.5-litre V6 is easily a match for the Toyota’s under-stressed unit. It sounds a heck of a lot better too, although it’s not backed up by a fun chassis.

Which is perfectly reasonable. The electric power steering is nicely weighted and set up well for both city and highway driving and won’t ever tell you a fib. Those big brakes haul the big thing down from big speeds without drama and the suspension keeps everything in check.

It’s lovely and quiet, too. I’d have this over the much more expensive Toyota any day.

It’s a very nice car to get around in. Comfortable seats, simple straightforward controls and a lovely smooth V6. You can do a lot worse.

Competition

King of the kids is, obviously, the Toyota Kluger. While I don’t like that car very much, it’s a very solid choice with a five year warranty, good build quality (despite its US origins) but it’s very soft and lifeless. And drinks, hard. Looks good in its Black Edition equivalent. Pricey, though and still doesn’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Hyundai’s Santa Fe is similarly up for replacement soon, but the sister car is already a generation ahead, so it’s just a (big) facelift. I’m a huge fan of the Santa Fe, which does cost a bit more but it’s flippin’ loaded, even at the cheap end of things.

Mazda’s CX-9 is gorgeous, has a grunty 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo and is just lovely. Only problem is, Mazda fits crap tyres, which on the FWD is a problem in the wet. Apart from that, it has a beautiful interior, is great to drive and feels just right. Costs a lot, though.

Redline Recommendation

If you’re not bothered by the very latest and you need/want a seven-seater with a lovely petrol engine, do it. You can probably twist a grand or a few off the price at the moment, too, so you can’t ask much more than that.

June 1, 2020
Kia Cerato GT 2019 Review

The Kia Cerato GT is one of about a zillion warm hatches that seem to have a knack of dragging punters through the door.

Kia is doing Very Good Things these days. It took a while for the company to build a reputation for making honest-and-worthy cars but did it with a long warranty and, eventually, knocking together some real lookers.

Attention-grabbing stuff like the Soul also helped and then came some properly fun stuff like the Pro’Ceed GT, the Stinger GT4 Concept and then the actual Stinger GT. And who could forget the fun-loving Picanto GT? I certainly haven’t and would quite like one, thanks.

What quite a few people don’t know is that Kia quietly popped a rival for Hyundai’s i30 N-Line into its range. A turbo engine, tweaked suspension and a some fine-looking bodywork later, we’re not entirely sure this one has hit the mark.

Look and Feel

MY19 KIA CERATO SEDAN GT – rear garnish detail. / MY19 KIA CERATO HATCH GT – front interior. / MY19 KIA CERATO HATCH GT / MY19 KIA CERATO HATCH GT / MY19 KIA CERATO HATCH GT – GT badge detail. / MY19 KIA CERATO HATCH GT – rear seat space.

I’ve a had few conversations with people who tell me they really don’t like the Cerato GT hatch. I really don’t mind it. It’s a bit odd from some angles, sharing a lot of its proportions with the i30 Fastback. I don’t mind it, but the back is a bit busy. But I can live with that.

I’m fond of the wheels, though, they look pretty good.

The cabin is by-the-numbers Kia, which is to say it’s good if a bit jelly bean-ey. The GT brings plenty of aluminium trim bits to lift things up above the humdrum but I’m not sure the interior has quite the sharpness the market seems to like. There’s nothing wrong with it, though, and it’s got plenty of stuff to like.

With dual-zone climate control, convincing fake leather, a big 8.0-inch screen (with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay) and a cracking set of seats, you’ll be pretty happy in here. You also get an eight-speaker JBL sound system, which isn’t bad, along with DAB+. The Kia entertainment software is okay, easy to use and it also includes sat nav.

Engine and Chassis

The GT scores a 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder, spinning up 150kW (204PS) and 265Nm. To get the power to the front wheels, you get Kia’s own (well, shared with Hyundai) seven-speed twin-clutch with paddle shifts to keep you occupied. For those who care, the clutch is a dry one (and also explains why it’s not fitted to the i30 N)

That 265Nm torque figure is a long way north of the humdrum 2.0-litre in the rest of the Ceratos – 73Nm to be exact. That’s a lot for a car that’s barely heavier and worth that for the price alone.

Like the upper-end i30s (because this is a i30 underneath), the Cerato GT flings the cheaper torsion beams in favour of a multi-link rear end. New springs and dampers all round stiffen things up and the front brakes grow to 305mm, up from 280mm in the normal hatch.

The 18-inch alloys come with Michelin Pilot Sport 4s in 225/40 spec. These are pretty decent tyres for a warm hatch…

Driving

Things started well with the Cerato. It looks good and it feels good, it’s beautifully built and it’s just all-round likeable.

Tooling around town quickly revealed a few issues. The front suspension – tuned by the usually-reliable local team – is really hard and it crashes and bashes on our rubbish Sydney roads. That got pretty tiring during the week as I negotiated the usual suburban and urban horrors.

Also tiring was the transmission’s dithering. If you’re not giving it a kick in the guts, the gearbox seems to want to please you but fails, panicking about which gear to give you. It’s a real pain because lurking behind that gearbox is a very good engine.

And you work out what a good engine it is when you’re out on proper roads. Get into a flow and you’ll be having as much fun as you will in its i30 cousin. The suspension never really settles, though, so you have to work a bit harder, but it is a lot of fun.

I’m a fan of the steering – the weight is just about right and you know what’s happening underneath you. I’m not a fan of the brake pedal, it felt really dead and I had no idea what was going on with the brakes.

Redline Recommendation

The Cerato GT is well-priced, has a whopping warranty and hugely sensible servicing regime and looks great (I think). But as a warm hatch, it stumbles on a couple of key obstacles.

Warm hatches are all-rounders, keeping everyone (including the accountant) happy. Where the Focus ST-Line keeps you comfortable while also providing a few thrills, the Cerato just misses the mark.

That’s probably not the end of it, though. Korean companies take this sort of thing very seriously. The 2020 Cerato GT will likely come out swinging.

August 21, 2019
Kia Picanto GT 2019 Review

The Kia Picanto GT has moved the benchmark for very small warm hatches. I’m not shocked, just very, very pleased.

When I started this site, I decided that it would cover performance cars. And what did I think was a performance car? Everything from a Swift Sport and up. That left me with a pretty wide range of cars to play with and that suits me just fine. Just because you can’t afford something expensive doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun.

Thing is, here in Australia, the Swift Sport isn’t very cheap at all. For what you get, you’re actually paying a fair bit. And I think the original starting price of $25,490 – just a few grand short of the now-departed Ford Fiesta ST – came about because there was nothing else.

But there is. It’s not from Europe, but from Korea. In what is a continually pleasing and inevitable continuation of the Koreans doing to the Japanese what they did to the West, Kia has taken the small warm hatch formula and done it quite well.

And for not very much money.

Words: Peter Anderson
Co-pilots: Spencer Leech and Mark Dewar

Picanto GT History

Not much to report here. It’s the first Picanto GT. But it does fit in with a short, if impressive list of performance-oriented cars from Kia. The Stinger GT everybody knows about but do you remember the stupidly-named Pro’ceed GT? No, I didn’t think you did, but it was a nice prelude to what was to come not only from Korea. The Hyundai i30 N surely took some inspiration from that underrated quick hatch.

Look and Feel

I quite like the Picanto for many of the same reasons I like the Swift. Small, chunky, ready to rumble. The GT-Line Picanto is a nice looking thing and the GT amps things up a bit.

You get a nice set of alloy wheels, some funky red flashes, deeper bumpers, fog lights and styling details to lower the look of the car. It’s nice looking but clearly Korean. That’s okay, they’re doing a pretty job of styling these days, so I’m not complaining.

The cabin also contains a few flashes of red, but it’s basically the same as the bog-standard Picanto’s. Which is to say very cheap and reasonably cheerful. The top half of the dash is quite stylish and has a nice blade of aluminium-a-like to break up the plastic. The steering wheel is covered in buttons and has nice red stitching while avoiding the flat-bottom cliche. Nice work. Once you go to the bottom half of the dash, it suddenly goes super-cheap with big old-school controls for the air-conditioning. No big deal, just be aware that this is a genuine bargain for what it is.

Plenty of room up front, too – co-pilot Spencer is a tall unit with even taller hair and he was quite happy punting it around, chasing me in the Range Rover SVAutobiography.

Super-tight in the back though, so this is really only a two person car for most of the time.

A surprisingly large screen on the dash houses an okay sat nav and multimedia system while it also has the magic of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Ferrari GTC4 Lusso T I drove charges (in Australia) $7000 just for CarPlay whereas that kind of money would pay for quite a lot of upgrades on the Kia.

Drivetrain and Chassis

The Picanto GT scores a single-scroll turbocharged version of Kia’s 999cc three-cylinder. It’s good for 74kW (100PS) and a very decent 172Nm to shift 1007kg. It’s still a front-wheel drive and only has five forward gears, but you change the gears yourself. A nicer bonus would be the 88kW version from the Rio, but you can’t have everything,

Chassis changes are more of the detailed variety rather than seriously different. Luckily, here in Australia Kia has a small and hugely dedicated team who have already extracted a pretty decent tune out of the basic car and didn’t have to do too much to improve things. The team couldn’t do much with the rear-end’s torsion beam setup. Which is a shame, so it meant there wasn’t a lot you could do with the front-end without making it feel like two different cars welded together.

And for some reason the wheels have a set of 195/45 16s (good) from Nexen (bad) and they’re eco-style tyres (oh dear). And the tyres have a stupid name – N’Blue.

So budget a few bucks for a set of better tyres and you’ll be doing the right thing.

Driving

MY19 KIA PICANTO GT – front 3/4 static.

I’m known for my unpopular/optimistic opinions about cars and I hold a very optimistic one about the Picanto GT – I think it’s a blast. No, it’s not very fast – in fact, I think my VW up! is only ever so slightly slower to 100km/h.

The tyres are noisy and not very good, the gearbox has only two gears worth using when you’re on it and even with 72kW and 172Nm, it’s not very quick. But I don’t care.

You see, I quite like underpowered hatches with a good chassis. The base Picanto rides really well and I reckon the GT holds on to most of the ride comfort with a bit more pointiness. Rowing it down through tight bends, just leave it in second and swoop around, enjoy yourself.

It’s got a proper sense of humour, the front tyres squealing if you push too hard into a corner, but hanging on pretty well. The triple likes to rev, but only you know about it – it’s pretty quiet. If you want noise, you’ll have to upgrade the exhaust, which might yield a bit more power.

I think the Picanto GT has all the makings of a cult car and replaces the (long dead) Barina RS as my small car surprise.

Redline Recommendation

The Picanto GT is a lot of fun. I seriously considered buying one after spending a week enjoying its many charms. It has AEB, lots of gear to keep you amused in traffic and has a very long warranty. The cheap servicing and insurance were also a top consideration. This car will cost a lot less to own than a Swift Sport and is more fun to live with.

A lot of folks buy their kids a new car to keep them safe and ensure reliability – I think this is the best first car option you can buy new – safe, fun, cheap to run and looks pretty cool. And it won’t coax you or your kids into any trouble.

August 12, 2019
Kia Stinger GT 2019 Review
Everybody has heard about the Kia Stinger. Just about everybody is wrong about it, though.

Why are they wrong? They reckon it came out of the blue. It didn’t. We got flashes of what Kia could do long ago in the form of stupidly-named Pro’ceed GT, a much-lauded bargain performance hatchback. Nobody bought it because people are idiots, but it was the warning shot.

I’m not sure how or why the Stinger came about. I have no idea how it got signed off given the ongoing slaughter of the sedan market. But, like many cars that don’t appear to make sense, I don’t care. The Stinger arrived in “normal” – albeit rear-wheel drive – forms and along with it came this – the Kia Stinger GT.

It was one of the most hyped cars on the planet in 2017. The official reason for me waiting this long is to let the hype die down. The actual reason is that I only just managed to get my hands on one.

Words: Peter Anderson
Images: Matthew “better than Peter’s iPhone” Hatton

Look and feel
- KIA GT4 Stinger Concept
- KIA GT4 Stinger Concept
About ten years ago, Kia had an epiphany. You can sell good, solid cheap cars (itself an achievement) and lots of them. You can slap a good warranty and after-sales package on them and sell a few more, creating a sense of confidence in your brand from prospective customers.

But you can sell a lot more of them if they don’t look like complete duffers. So they started listening very carefully to what ex-Audi design chief Peter Schreyer had been saying for a while – make people recognise Kias.

So after ten years of doing that with front-wheel drive sedans and hatchbacks and a range of SUVs, Kia tackled a shrinking market – rear-wheel drive sedans. I mean, why not?

The Stinger story started five years ago in 2014. The GT4 Stinger popped up at the 2014 Detroit Show and we all went wild. Then it all went quiet, because Kia said they wouldn’t build it, the sly dogs.

Cars like this need a very different approach – you can have a lower bonnet, you can lengthen it and you’ll find many rear-wheel drive cars with sporting pretensions have big thick haunches to remind you it’s RWD.

It’s all here on the Stinger and it looks tremendous. Of course, the GT has a set of huge wheels, that continuation of the rear lights that cuts into the rear guards and an aggro front bumpers. The side profile is properly sporty and has absolutely separated the Stinger from the Kia brand – you say Stinger, people know it’s a Kia.
The interior is less adventurous, but boy is it good. Apart from the boring steering wheel, it’s got its own feel. The seats are fantastic (if a bit wide for me) and the penalty for the sleek roofline is paid here in the front seat. Even with the seat wound all the way down, the standard (in Australia) sunroof cuts into headroom. I hate sunroofs and I’m not even particularly tall.

Anyway. It looks great inside and out. No complaints.

Driveline

Motivation comes from Kia’s Lambda II 3.3-litre twin turbo V6, spinning up 272kW (370PS) and 510Nm. That’s an amazing amount of power and comfortably the most powerful engine in the current Kia range. The only thing more powerful in the Hyundai-Kia firmament is the 5.0-litre V8, but only a few cars in the US and Korea gets that engine.

Hyundai and Kia make pretty much everything in their cars, and that includes the eight-speed transmission that sends the power to the rear wheels.

You can cover the benchmark 0-100km/h (0-62mph) time in 4.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 270km/h (167mph).

Chassis

The V6 captures plenty of the attention, but this car really does have the full package. A proper mechanical limited-slip differential looks after the fun end of the transmission, promising plenty of fun.

The front brakes – with four-piston Brembo calipers, no less – are a whopping 340mm while the twin-piston rears grab 250mm discs.

Kia, predictably, spent a lot of time at the Nurburgring, honing the MacPherson strut front and and five-link rear. The GT has those big struts you can see in the photo above, as well as beefed-up anti-roll bars.

Rolling on 19-inch alloys, the front tyres are 225/40 up front and 255/30 at the rear and they’re from Continental.

Driving
There was something bugging me about the Stinger. Not in a bad way – you probably already know that it’s a very good car. It’s heavy, and you can never get away from that feeling. The way it stops, turns and goes was awfully familiar.

In another way, the way you get in and get comfortable was very familiar and it dawned on me far more quickly – this car feels like Audi’s previous generation A7. You step down, duck under the roof rail and settle in snugly. It’s a good feeling and an important one. Nobody thinks twice about dropping $120,000 on an Audi but plenty will baulk at $60,000 for a Kia. They shouldn’t, and this feeling proves it.

It’s not like the Audi, it just feels like it. I like that.

My wife returned from a drive in it – nothing special, just running around for her day – and she reckoned she had found what had been gnawing at us both. This car feels a lot like her old BMW E90 330d M Sport. Fast, torquey, predictable and, in her words, “Stuck to the road.”

That’s high praise. The E90 was a terrific car, the 330d was fast but kept to itself.

The key to the Stinger is the way it grips and goes. That limited slip diff means you can really hoot into a corner, the rear staying nice and stable. Power out with the traction on is also very stable, but the traction control is a bit of a killjoy. A bit more play in the tail would be most welcome.

The day I really got stuck in to the GT was a bit damp after a lot of rain the previous day, and it coped admirably. Despite carrying a ton of speed into the corners, the fronts would hang on gamely, chirping slightly under heavy braking.

With the drive mode select turned up to Sport, the dampers were firm but compliant, keeping the tubby Stinger on the straight and narrow without upsetting its balance.

And one of the best things about the car is that as a daily, it’s superb. Calm, composed and muscular, it gets on with the boring stuff without demanding anything of you.

Redline Recommendation

The Stinger is a great car. It really is. But it’s a GT car. Don’t buy it thinking it’ll be a hoot on a track day, it’s really more about a good winding road rather than chasing tenths. It will be wonderfully lairy with the traction switched off – there are plenty of flattened fences that will attest to that – and you’ll have a ball.

But as a road car, this is a gutsy, bold move from Kia. It’s the top of their current GT range (Picanto and Cerato reviews will be along shortly) and it’s worth every single penny.
April 28, 2019
Detroit Show: KIA GT4 Stinger Concept

Go on Kia, take a bow. You did good.

We’re talking about the Kia GT4 Stinger Concept, which is, as you might’ve already noticed, quite a handsome beast.

KIA GT4 STINGER CONCEPT REVEALED

Kia likes a good concept and since former Audi man Peter Schreyer stepped into the designer slippers in Seoul, we’ve liked a Kia concept.

From the Trackster to the Provo, there’s just nothing like a Schreyer show car but there is a problem – they won’t make them. Will the GT4 Stinger break the curse?

Inside & Out

KIA GT4 Stinger Concept

The design is simple, but effective with a more than a hint of retro cool. The lines are smooth, the almost Mercedes SLS-esque face is bold and the proportions are bang-on.

Heavily sculpted wheelarches complete the look giving the car real presence and, well, just plain and simple sex appeal, really.

See those funny looking A-pillars? They’re transparent to provide the driver with greater visibility, although, we can’t imagine anything like this featuring on a production car.

The Technical Bits

KIA GT4 Stinger Concept

The Stinger is not all show and no go, this small rear wheel drive coupe is powered by a 2.0 litre turbo engine which produces a stout 234kw. A six-speed manual gearbox sends power, thankfully, to the rear wheels.

Stopping power is supplied by Brembo Gran Turismo cross drilled rotors with four-piston calipers. The car wears 235 section Pirelli P-Zero tyres at the front and larger 275s at the rear.

The pretty little Kia coupe weighs in at just over 1300kg and does away with unnecessary interior luxuries such as carpets, a stereo and even door handles to save weight.

Kia says there’s no need for a stereo because “the GT4 Stinger’s free-flow exhaust burbles and blurts unabashedly and is music to the ears of driving enthusiasts everywhere” – sounds very promising indeed.

“[The GT4 Stinger] is about purity, simplicity and timelessness. The GT4 Stinger is a throwback to days when driving a car was a visceral experience that wasn’t muted by electronic gimmickry.”– Tom Kearns, Chief Designer, Kia Design Centre America

Unfortunately Kia has no plans to put a car like this into production any time soon (insert sad face). Instead we can expect to see some design elements from the GT4 Stinger in future Kia models.

Man up and build the damn car, Kia. We’ll all buy it.

Read all of our 2014 Detroit Motor Show coverage here.

January 14, 2014