Kia's new high-performance sedan 'Stinger' designed to match European rivals

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 22, 2017, 11:14 Updated : May 22, 2017, 13:44

[Photo by Park Sae-jin ]


Kia Motors releases its premium high-performance sedan "Stinger" this week to compete with European rivals such as BMW and AUDI as it seeks to regain consumer confidence in the domestic market which is getting more competitive than ever due to the growing popularity of imported vehicles.

The Stinger, the first of its kind made by Kia, drew global attention at the 2017 Detroit Motor Show in January. The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (FR) vehicle comes in three engine lineups -- 2.0 turbo gasoline, 3.3 turbo gasoline and 2.2 diesel. Kia provides all-wheel-drive (AWD) as an option.

The price for the lowest trim of Stinger is 35 million won (31,282 US dollars), about 300 to 400 won lower than earlier announced prices. Experts see the lowered price is a strategic move aimed at taking the upper hand over European contenders.

 

[Photo by Park Sae-jin ]


The Stinger is competitive with lowered prices and better performances than German vehicles, according to the Korea Energy Agency.

Stinger's 2.0 turbo gasoline model is compared to BMW's 428i priced at about 65.3 million won. The German coupe shares similar specs with a 2.0 turbo engine and about 25 kilograms lighter while they show similar performances: Stinger pulls a maximum torque of 255 horsepower and 428i pulls 245 horsepower. Stinger takes six seconds in reaching 100 km/h from zero, compared with 428i's 5.8 seconds.

Stinger is installed with top-of-the-line driver convenience systems such as a head-up-display (HUD), a highway driving assistant (HDA) and an around-view-monitor (AVM), which displays the surroundings of a vehicle in real-time.
 

[Photo by Park Sae-jin ]


Stinger is seen as Kia's new trial in the standardized domestic market where sport utility vehicles and prosaic sedans have become the norm, but car enthusiasts and communities showed a mixed response. Some voiced skepticism citing a failure by Hyundai Motor's high-performance FR Genesis Coupe.

The Hyundai coupe was spotlighted at home and abroad when it was released in 2008 but soon became the exclusive property of young car enthusiasts favoring a cost-effective high-performance coupe. Hyundai stopped manufacturing the coupe in 2016 after selling 15,722 units.

Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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