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Kia dealers now have a halo model to bring customers into showrooms with the arrival of the Stinger.
The five-seat coupe, Kia’s first grand tourer model and its first rear-wheel-drive car to be sold in the UK, has gone on sale at prices starting from £31,995.
The Stinger is expected to take the Kia brand and its dealers into new territory, bidding to rival established premium market coupes such as the Audi A5 and BMW’s 4 Series, but at a lower price.
Five models will eventually be available in the UK, all employing direct-injection turbo engines, including a diesel, and all combined with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
GT-Line and GT-Line S versions will be offered with either a 2-litre T-GDi petrol engine of 244bhp, or a 2.2-litre CRDi turbodiesel producing 197bhp. Range-topper, and the first available, is the GT S with its 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine of 365bhp.
The GT-S returns a 0-60mph time of 4.7 seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating production Kia yet offered.
It is also fitted with adjustable electronic suspension damping, Dynamic Stability Damping Control (DSDC) allowing the driver to choose comfort-oriented Normal or Sport chassis settings and Brembo performance brakes.
The Stinger is evolved directly from the GT concept model first shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, and was designed in Europe, at the brand’s Frankfurt studios under design head Peter Schreyer.
Adding weight to the car’s expected dynamic abilities is the influence of vehicle test and high performance development head Albert Biermann.
Poached by Hyundai-Kia in 2014, Biermann was previously for most of the recent successful M cars produced by BMW. He also heads the new N performance division of Kia’s sister brand Hyundai, and the Stinger shares much of its chassis technology with Hyundai’s newly-launched and much praised i30 N performance hatch.
Kia insists, however, that the Stinger is a grand tourer rather than a performance car such as the i30 N, and designed to convey occupants over long distances in great comfort.
Kia Stinger pricing
Stinger GT-Line 2.0 T-GDi: £31,995
Stinger GT-Line 2.2 CRDi: £33,595
Stinger GT-Line S 2.0 T-GDi: £35,495
Stinger GT-Line S 2.2 CRDi: £37,095
Andrew CharmanStinger GT S 3.3 T-GDi V6 £40,495
