A rwd sedan with some sporting intentions and a couple of good engine options and a value minded price point and a strong warranty? Sounds pretty good to me.
I’m definitely glad Kia is bringing a 3 series fighter to market If we’re lucky, it will 90+% of the bimmer for 75% or less of the cost. The lift back trunk is just gravy.
sevenracer said:A rwd sedan with some sporting intentions and a couple of good engine options and a value minded price point and a strong warranty? Sounds pretty good to me.
I’m definitely glad Kia is bringing a 3 series fighter to market If we’re lucky, it will 90+% of the bimmer for 75% or less of the cost. The lift back trunk is just gravy.
I was really surprised how much I enjoyed driving the BMW 435i Gran Coupe, and I agree — the liftback feature is great. If Kia can land this car anywhere close to that driving experience, this will be a fantastic value.
I want that red interior in my life.
so ...do we have towing specs on these yet? LOL.
But seriously. If I was in the market for a car these would be at the top of my list.
The0retical said:I want that red interior in my life.
YES, and I hate red usually. The fold down rear setup look neat too.
Looks fantastic. If I didn't want something with a bit more REAL sporting potential (IE a Miata or PP Mustang) that would be very high on the list.
Today I learned that my local dealer has a pre-production Stinger GT in their showroom so I went by the check it out.
The car a turbo six loaded with pretty much every option. The Red-on-black interior was nicer than I expected, and nicer than the Guilia Ti I test drove earlier this week. This car looks great in the flesh and is clearly trying to be a legitimate Audi A5/S5 Sportback and BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe competitor.
The preliminary price sheet I saw had the base turbo-4 starting from $33K, a trim package for $37K, the turbo-6 starting from $42K, and a fully loaded car for $49K. AWD was a $2K option. Fifty grand for a Kia is really reaching, particularly since Kia has never before been a credible player in the sports-sedan segment. I'm very curious to see how many people purchase this car over the equivalent German competition.
In reply to nderwater :
Yeah, I'm really wondering how well this does too. On Truecar, a loaded AWD 440i gran coupe MSRP's at $65k and sells for 59k. So about a 8-10k difference, could be compelling for some folks (like my cheapskate self). But a loaded up Lexus IS350 AWD Fsport MSRP's at 51k and sells for 48k. That seems like a problem.
BTW, at least to me, exterior styling wise, the Kia lags pretty far behind the BMW and Audi, just looking at the pictures, it doesn't set itself apart from the bland FWD Altima, Sonata, Optima contingent. Maybe it's different in person.
Regardless, I'm glad they have the guts to try going toe to toe with the luxury brands on a real rwd sport sedan, and aren't just trying to pass off a tarted up FWD midsize as a sports sedan. Hope it does really well.
I think there will be discounts to get them off the lots after the initial blush. Honestly given the Kia reputation with most Americans it may take discounts to move them at all, even initially. I suspect this will become one of the GRM favorite used unicorns in the next 5 years. Of course, how many will Kia have to sell for them to call it a "success?" Maybe their goals are more realistic than we suspect.
wait, so it's faster than my Mustang? Dammit.
If someone said ten years ago that in 2017 Kia would make a twin-turbo liftback that runs 12s, we all would have thought that they were out of their minds.
No kidding. The 2007 Kia lineup included the Amanti, Spectra and Rondo... sad, nondescript appliances. The vehicles on Kia showrooms today look like they're from an entirely different company.
Bringing this thread back from it's month long hiatus.
Ars Technica has the initial review and pricing of the Stinger up (Sorry GRM staff.) Starts at $31k for the four cylinder. $38,350 nets you the twin turbo 6 cyl. Don't bother with the AWD version apparently.
Plus there's an OEM body kit with wings and splitters and E36 M3.
Initial reviews say it's very good. Interested to hear the GRM staff's impressions.
nderwater said:No kidding. The 2007 Kia lineup included the Amanti, Spectra and Rondo... sad, nondescript appliances. The vehicles on Kia showrooms today look like they're from an entirely different company.
But with that said.... those 3 cars were already leaps and bounds ahead of the the cars they replaced just a few years previous. The 2006 Spectra5 was actually a great little car with better handling than the Hyundai stablemate (Elantra GT).
They, like Hyundai jump 2-3 generations compared to their japanese counterparts.
I like that orange and the black vents and stuff.
That orange car is amazing. 
Daddy like.
Yea it wears orange really well which is automatic points in my book. It's funny to me that the engine cover wears the Genesis badge still even though I know it's the same 6 cyl mill. I was expecting it to come in at the $50k mark, which is apparently possible if you option everything, but the lower price makes a great case for it since it's clearly targeted as a 3 Series fighter.
I'm adding Kia to my list of "companies that should totally loan me a car for One Lap". Who doesn't love a mid pack finish?
mazdeuce - Seth said:I'm adding Kia to my list of "companies that should totally loan me a car for One Lap". Who doesn't love a mid pack finish?
I like where you're goingwith this.... I'd totally run their Forte Koup Turbo in the economy class, you could take this in the luxo-barge class. How do we pitch this?
So that's cheaper than I thought by like $20K. I wonder if they are going to sell a single K900 after this?
Bobcougarzillameister said:mazdeuce - Seth said:I'm adding Kia to my list of "companies that should totally loan me a car for One Lap". Who doesn't love a mid pack finish?
I like where you're goingwith this.... I'd totally run their Forte Koup Turbo in the economy class, you could take this in the luxo-barge class. How do we pitch this?
Average guys in great cars.
Most people think something like "I should buy something better than a Kia" when the truth is they're very good. Four thousand miles an a half dozen race tracks in a week will show you just how good they are.
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