• Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

    Welcome to the #1 KIA Stinger Forum and KIA Stinger community dedicated to KIA Stinger owners and enthusiasts. Register for an account, it's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the KIA Stinger Forum today!


UK Kia Stinger GT S review

Kia Stinger News

Member
Staff Member
Messages
328
Reactions
32
State
Non-US
Country
South Korea
#1

Are UK buyers ready for a ?40K Kia sports saloon? And should they be?

Kia has come a long way in a short time. From its position less than a decade ago as Hyundai's budget brand sibling, Kia has made meteoric progress. As 2017 turns into 2018, Kia now offers a range of confident, competent vehicles that match European class leaders for comfort, technology, safety and efficiency.

And the flagship for the Kia of 2018 is this, the all-new Stinger. It's a mid-sized rear-wheel drive executive fastback, aimed squarely at the likes of the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Series Gran Coup?.

The Stinger, seen here in GT S specification with a 365hp 3.3-litre turbocharged petrol that is the only model available at launch, is clearly set to break down some barriers for Kia - the first of which will clearly be "Will people pay ?40,000 for a Kia instead of an Audi or a BMW?".

Of course, Kia already offers a top-spec Sorento SUV that costs more than ?40K, but the family 4WD market is rather different to the executive market and there are plenty of mainstream competitor offering similar vehicles for similar money. This is different - Kia is not targeting Peugeot or ?koda here with a well-meaning but boring family wagon, but BMW and Audi with a sleek executive gran turismo.

So the Stinger treads new ground for Kia, but it still brings the brand's hallmark of producing a car that gives you a lot of bang for your buck - to get an Audi S5 Sportback with similar performance and kit to the Kia will set you back about ?58,000. A BMW 440i M Sport Gran Coup? runs up to about ?56,500 once you add on all the extras that come standard in the Stinger.

That's the theory anyway. What we need to find out now is whether the Kia Stinger justifies such comparisons.

Buying and owning a Kia Stinger GT S
To kick things off here in the UK, the Kia Stinger is launching with the top-spec GT S model trim. Lower-order models, with a smaller petrol or diesel engine will arrive in the first few months of 2018.

If you're looking for an options list for the Stinger GT S, it's essentially a colour chart. One colour is free (yellow, unfortunately) and the rest cost extra. That's about it. Everything else that Kia could possibly cram into the GT S is included in the sticker price.

That may cause confusion for buyers of German cars, who are used to starting with the advertised price and steadily working upwards to add basic things like seat pockets and cupholders.

The Audi S5 Sportback needs nearly ?10,000 of optional extras to come close to what the Kia includes as standard (although the S5 does have all-wheel drive rather than real-wheel drive). The BMW 440i M Sport Gran Coup? requires adding ?11,000 of extra-cost features to more or less compare with the Stinger.

The AMG version of the unimpressive Mercedes-Benz CLA tots up to about ?55K as well - once you add in all the extras that still don't bring it up to the Kia's level. The CLA 45 is more powerful and all-wheel drive, but if you really want a Mercedes-AMG for that money then you're much better off buying an ex-demo version of the far more excellent C 63 saloon.

The Kia Stinger GT S comes kitted out with a comprehensive level of kit, including an array of safety systems and luxury features. The leather seats are electrically adjustable with memory function, heating (rear passengers, too) and ventilated cooling. The satnav and infotainment system includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto without charging you extra, there's a head-up display, a sunroof and much more. We were still finding extra gizmos after four hours of driving from Cornwall to London.

Styling is always a matter of opinion, but overall the Stinger looks good from a distance with a few jarring details close up. The long wheelbase and short overhangs are great, and the big wheels and sporty bumpers of the GT S model suit the look of the car. Some of the details jar a bit and look overdone, although Kia is certainly in good company there (step forward BMW and Mercedes-Benz).

Running costs might be a mixed bag. The Kia will probably be cheaper to insure than an Audi, BMW or Mercedes, but fuel economy on the big 3.3-litre V6 isn't especially clever. Kia claims 28.5 mpg on the combined lab test cycle, which will probably mean 20-25 mpg for most owners. By comparison, Audi claims about 36 mpg for the S5 Sportback, BMW reckons about 42mpg for the 440i and Mercedes expects just under 39 mpg for the CLA 45.

Kia is bullish about predicted residual values, and initial calculations from industry analysts cap hpi sound positive, but inevitably we'll have to wait and see. Many manufacturers have claimed market-leading residual estimates when launching a new car, only for the actual figures in three years' time to be wide of the mark. Good cars tend to retain their values well, so if the car builds a solid reputation over the next few years then the used car values should take care of themselves.

The Kia Stinger has yet to be crash tested by Euro NCAP, but having a full complement of accident avoidance technology included as standard is very promising.

Read more on The Car Expert.
 

Similar threads



Top