2018 Kia Stinger GT S – Stunning Five-Seater Gran Turismo. 2018 Kia Stinger GT S – Drive, Interior and Exterior. Color: Ceramic Grey.
Stinger is the most adventurous model in Kia’s history, the company’s first classic grand tourer and the first rear-wheel-drive model it has introduced to Europe. In range-topping twin-turbo V6 guise, it is also the fastest-accelerating Kia ever, with a 0-60mph time of 4.7 seconds.
Five versions are available in the UK, all with turbocharged direct-injection engines mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox and featuring state-of-the-art electronic driver aids and connectivity systems. The GT-Line and GT-Line S offer the choice of a 2.0-litre 244bhp T-GDi petrol engine or a 2.2-litre 197bhp CRDi turbodiesel, while the range-topping GT S has exclusive use of a 3.3-litre 365bhp twin-turbo V6. The GT S, as the fastest and most powerful model in the range, also has adjustable electronic suspension damping and Brembo brakes.
Stinger’s luxurious interior is a blend of cocooning intimacy and space for five people and their luggage. Occupants slip down into their low-slung seats – leather in GT-Line and GT-Line S versions, and Nappa leather in GT S.
There is a horizontal sweep to the high-mounted, wing-shaped dashboard – also covered in leather – which is broken only by the 8.0-inch touchscreen for the navigation and infotainment system. Leather also adorns the door armrests, the D-shaped steering wheel and the gearshifter, which also has chrome sections.
The seats are snug and enveloping, and the two in front have eight-way power adjustment – with a memory function on the driver’s side – and a two-way power cushion extender plus four-way power lumbar adjustment. The front seats and steering wheel are heated, and in GT-Line S and GT S they are also ventilated, while the outer rear seats are also heated.
To enhance comfort, dual automatic air conditioning is fitted to every model, while to aid the driver there is a 7.0-inch LCD Thin Film Transistor (TFT) supervision cluster and a customisable head-up display which allows key information – speed, navigation instructions and audio, cruise control and blind spot detection information – to be projected onto the windscreen. GT-Line S and GT S also have a 360-degree around-view monitor.
Every model has a DAB radio with MP3 compatibility and Bluetooth with voice recognition and music streaming. In GT-Line there is a nine-speaker sound system with front under-seat subwoofer, while GT-Line S and GT S have a concert hall quality 15-speaker harman/kardon premium system with subwoofer, external amp and front centre speaker. It features Clari-Fi, which restores the sound often lost when digital music files are heavily compressed, and QuantumLogic Surround Sound, which redistributes signals from the original recording to deliver multi-dimensional playback.
All versions have fully independent suspension through MacPherson struts at the front and a five-link set-up featuring double wishbones at the rear, but there are two different systems. GT-Line and GT-Line S have a passive set-up, while GT S introduces adaptive Dynamic Stability Damping Control (DSDC), which can be changed through the Drive Mode Selector. DSDC allows the driver to choose a more comfort-oriented Normal setting or a Sport setting which introduces more powerful damping force.
A variable-ratio version of Kia’s rack-mounted Motor Driven Power Steering (R-MDPS) is fitted to the GT S grade, and this can also be adjusted via the Drive Mode Selector. The Normal setting requires less turning effort from on-centre, becoming progressively firmer as more lock is added. Sport requires more initial effort, while shorter gearing ensures more immediate response by reducing the need for larger steering inputs.
Stinger’s brakes have had more development work than those on any previous Kia to ensure they are up to the performance of the engines. There are ventilated discs at all four corners for the 2.0-litre T-GDi and 3.3-litre T-GDi V6 models, with ventilated front discs and solid rear discs for the 2.2-litre CRDi models.
The disk brakes for the 3.3-litre GT S were co-developed with Brembo and are 350mm on the front and 340mm on the rear and are holed and grooved, to provide high heat capacity with low fade, even in repeated heavy use. They were developed on some of the highest mountain passes in Austria, Germany and Spain as well as around the Nurburgring. There are quad-piston front calipers and dual-piston rear calipers.
