People all over the world are falling in love with the Kia Stinger. Of course, the GT model with its twin-turbo V6 is grabbing most of the attention, so we figured the Stinger Diesel needs our spotlight.
Diesel is less popular than it's been in many years, all thanks to Volkswagen's shenanigans. Still, Kia was right to offer a TDI alternative, even if it's probably not the perfect engine for this car.
Under the hood is a similar 2.2-liter CRDI unit to the one you'd find in the Sorento. It's nowhere near as exotic as the exterior of the car. Good for 200 HP and 440 Nm of torque, it will get the four-door to 100 km/h in 8.5 seconds and on to a top speed of only 225 km/h (140 mph).
That places it right at the bottom of the list of exotic diesel engines, as the industry now has things like electric superchargers and quad-turbo setups. But Kia worked with what it already had.
But we fell in love with this blue press car from the European launch event. The romance has to do with the availability of the GT-Line body kit. Except for the exhaust pipes, this Stinger Diesel looks identical to the Stinger GT, right down to the fake air vents in the hood.
The interior has been configured differently, but it's still very sexy. There are a flat-bottomed steering wheel and a de-cluttered console. Did we ever mention that the Stinger is a hatchback, like the Porsche Panamera and Audi A7? We have no trouble calling it sexy.
“It’s not about outright power, hard-edged dynamics and brutal styling, all at the expense of luxury, comfort, and grace," said Gregory Guillaume, chief designer at Kia Motors Europe. "The Kia Stinger has nothing to do with being the first to arrive at the destination - this car is all about the journey.”
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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