It’s a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) or, optionally, an all-wheel-drive (AWD) sport sedan with critical efficiency chops and house for the children. It’s a household automobile that may throw down. It’s a sensible commuter with an attractive secret. It’s Bruce Wayne as a automobile.
In case you may’t inform, the KBB editorial group loves it. Our knowledgeable reviewer Colin Ryan in contrast it to the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Sequence Gran Coupe — vehicles with far increased worth tags. He mentioned it “pushes the boundaries of what to anticipate from Kia.”
It didn’t final lengthy. Kia created it for the 2019 model yr and, sadly, introduced its retirement simply 5 years later. There are nonetheless a couple of on vendor tons — if a superb sport sedan with a 10-year guarantee and an reasonably priced worth tempts you.
We feared that the brief lifetime of the Stinger meant Kia would by no means try one thing prefer it once more. A brand new report says we’d like not concern.
South Korean Press Experiences Say an Inheritor Is Coming
A brand new report in South Korea’s ET Information says Kia will debut a religious inheritor to the Stinger’s mystique. A translation of the article says it might “be launched in 2025 on the earliest.” Like most future Kia autos lately, it’s electrical. For now, the challenge is known as GT1.
That title would possibly make all of it the way in which to manufacturing — automakers love alphanumeric names as a result of they work in each language. However we’ll be slightly dissatisfied if it doesn’t get named for the sharp a part of a wasp.
All-Wheel Drive, 603+ Horsepower
The GT1 prototype, the report says, makes use of two motors (one on the entrance axle and one on the rear) for an AWD grip and an influence output of 450 kW — about 603 horsepower. That will exceed the output of even the Kia EV6 GT, the model’s present efficiency champ.
Is it actual? It’s fairly doable. It rides on the identical platform because the EV6 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 (Hyundai and Kia share some possession and lots of automobile bones).
EV Engineering May Make This Straightforward
One of many promising issues in regards to the transition to electrical vehicles is that it makes introducing new fashions simpler. A lot of in the present day’s electrical autos (EVs) experience on frequent platforms. So-called “skateboard platforms” are practically flat combos of batteries, motors, suspension, and steering parts. As soon as producers construct one, scaling it up or down and tweaking its efficiency lets them create new fashions simply from frequent components.
There’s no cause Kia couldn’t take its current skateboard, inject it with wasp venom and the desires of Motor Pattern writers from the ‘70s, and promote it to folks who wish to get a ticket after dropping the children at daycare.
That was the whole thought of the Stinger. It may not have enticed sufficient consumers to final a decade, however the electrical age might make chasing wild concepts cheaper for automakers. Let’s hope the GT1 is actual sufficient, sometime, to make auto writers and adventurous dad and mom grin once more.