Kia Stinger GT 2018 review

19 December 2017

, CarsGuide

All Kias look the business these days and when the Stinger landed this year there wouldn’t have been one single person who thought it wasn’t stunning.Image may be NSFW.
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The fastback profile leading down to the boot lid spoiler, the quad exhaust – it’s an aggro but good looking four-door and what’s not to like about that?Image may be NSFW.
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That fastback roofline looks great from the outside. Inside, headroom is reduced, but still adequate.Image may be NSFW.
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Price From $59,990

What we like

Fantastic looks
Great performance
Good value

What we don't

Rear headroom becoming limited
Smallish boot
Poor visibility out of rear window

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If there’s any doubt in your mind that the Kia Stinger isn’t a legitimate performance car, take it from somebody who dismissed it as over-hyped and over-priced before they even drove it. The short answer is, it’s worthy of the praise it’s been getting. The long answer as to why it deserves the acclaim is in the review below.

We’ve tested the top of the range Stinger GT– that’s the one with the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6, and the one which is almost without rival at this price point in the market.

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Verdict

In my review of the Stinger 200S I confessed that before I’d even driven the car I’d decided there was no way it could be worthy of the hype that buzzed around it. I was wrong. It not only deserved the hype, but it far exceeded my expectations. And that was the lowest spec with the smaller engine.

Now the GT had arrived to rub it in even further with more grunt, more features and better advanced safety technology.

Yes, $60K may feel like a lot to spend before you even get to the on-road costs, but it only seems that way because it’s a Kia. Snap out of it – this is the only rear-wheel drive four-door with an engine that punches out this much grunt on the market at this price. Plus, if you were to spend the same amount on a luxury German ride, you’d be getting a lot less features and nowhere near the performance.

If it makes you feel a bit better, step down to the Si grade, it’s five grand less and comes with the same engine, AEB and most of the GT’s features.