2018 Kia Stinger GT First Test

[Kia Stinger News]

The concept of "grand touring" has been around for centuries, and the moniker has been applied to cars since the 1940s, but it's a term we tend to associate with exotic sports cars. The formula, though, is pretty simple: stylish, comfortable on a long drive, and plenty of power. But there's no rule that says it has to cost a fortune, and the Kia Stinger GT is absolutely taking advantage of this exception.

We've driven prototypes at an overseas R & D complex, on a frozen Swedish lake, and on the N?rburgring Nordschleife. Now, finally, we've driven a production-spec 2018 Kia Stinger GT on real roads and to our own Auto Club Speedway test track. How does it fare against the German luxury sedans against which it will undoubtedly be compared?

Korean-branded cars usually aren't synonymous with performance, but the rear-drive Stinger GT launches from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and clocks the standing quarter mile in 13.3 seconds at 106.9 mph. An emergency stop from 60 mph requires 113 feet, and it'll pull 0.85 average lateral g on a skidpad. On our exclusive figure-eight test track, the Stinger GT recorded a lap of 26.2 seconds at 0.71 average lateral g. Impressive numbers.

It's pretty good to drive away from the test track, too. Out in the mountains, the Stinger GT exhibits a surprising but intriguing combination of vertical compliance and lateral stiffness. Over bumps, the suspension was soft and the ride of luxury-car quality. In the corners, though, it was stiff with excellent body control. Even when pushing hard, the Stinger GT rode well but dug into corners with little body roll.

The power is well-matched to the vehicle and only feels inadequate if you let the revs drop too low. You want those turbochargers working for you, and the best way to do it is to take advantage of the paddle shifters because the transmission isn't quite aggressive enough for the really twisty roads.

"The engine has a fat torque curve, strong in midrange with noticeable lag at the bottom end," our staff professional racer, Randy Pobst, said during filming for an episode of Ignition-which you can watch right now at Motor Trend OnDemand and YouTube.com/motortrend. "Low revs mean calling ahead and waiting for the power to be delivered. The Stinger is quite powerful, and one must constantly remind oneself that this is a Kia that is tearing up this winding road or on-ramp."

Randy's critique continued: "The transmission is just not sport-smart enough in automatic, especially on the track. It shifts up, so I just let it. There's no reason for me to pull that paddle. I just have to remember to downshift on the way in, or else it won't. The shifting is reasonable. It matches revs. It's quick."

It's hard to say whether the transmission programming has changed since I drove a prototype on the N?rburgring or if our mountain roads and the Streets of Willow Springs racetrack are so much tighter that it amplifies the transmission's inadequacy, but my initial impressions were more positive.

As well as we know the Stinger GT can drift in the right conditions, it doesn't actually want to get wild out in the real world. The suspension tuning is conservative, the default behavior at the limit understeer. It makes the car very stable, never trying to swap ends no matter how hard you drive it. Thankfully, there's a lot of grip in the front end, so you have to push it very hard to get it to plow. Just driving fast, it feels neutral. You need to be pushing your braking points to the last second and carrying as much speed as possible into a corner to make it cry uncle.

Here again, I wonder if the American-market tuning increases understeer versus the European-spec car I drove. Or maybe Randy just carries that much more speed in the corners. It's probably the latter. The upshot: You'll never feel a stability control intervention.

"What they've done is create stability control by tuning the car for a lot of understeer in the middle of a corner," Randy said.

That's not to say it won't drift. Turn the computer off, give it a Scandinavian flick and too much throttle, and it'll do a nice power oversteer or two. It's just not a hoon by nature.

"It seems that the stability control is always learning and adapting," Randy said. "Even with it turned off, it became more and more invasive as the day wore on, and the wheelspin and sliding woke up the nannies that watch over us hooligans. After a few nice drifts, the car began to resolutely resist power oversteer-a darned shame and frustrating."

In other words, this is a grand touring sedan that actually takes its GT badge seriously. Out on the highway, it's everything you want on a road trip. It floats over bad pavement while remaining taut and responsive on long, sweeping corners. In a world of Demons and Hellcats, 365 hp might not seem like a lot, but it's plenty when applied correctly. The in-house eight-speed auto is programmed smartly for real-world conditions, delivering downshifts with little prodding. With the revs up and the turbos spinning, the engine delivers a pleasant surge of power that whisks you past trucks and loafers. It's a very easy and comfortable car to cover distance in.

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