Kia developed the Stinger with two purposes in mind. First and foremost, rear-wheel-drive sedans are somewhat rare in the day and age of crossovers and truck-based sport utility vehicles. But more importantly, the South Korean automaker wanted a halo car with a fair degree of performance to it because exciting sells.
Unfortunately for Kia, the sister brand to Hyundai didn't estimate its pool of potential customers properly. Exciting though it may be, the V6-engined GT didn't sell as good as originally expected. With Kia electrifying its lineup aggressively, it should not come as a surprise that the Stinger is going the way of the dodo. No replacement is planned for the Stinger line, whereas the GT has an indirect successor in the guise of an electric crossover.
The Stinger GT has a strong following nevertheless. Certain followers are perfectly aware that Kia tuned its twin-turbo V6 conservatively, which brings us to the white-painted car in the clip below. Modified with a JB4 performance to 400 ponies and 380 pound-feet (515 Nm) of torque, the mid-sized sedan is more powerful and torquier than its German and Japanese contenders.
Tipping the scales at 3,778 pounds (1,714 kilograms) as opposed to 4,179 pounds (1,896 kilograms) for the Kia, the 2012 model year Lexus IS F is the oldest car of the trio. It also features the most archaic powertrain, a naturally-aspirated V8 that sounds noticeably better than a force-fed V6. From an aural standpoint, the inline-six engine of the M340i xDrive comes on a close second despite not being the full-fat S58 employed by M cars.
The rear-wheel-drive IS F rocks an aftermarket exhaust and wheels, and the same number of forward gears as the all-wheel-drive Stinger GT. When it was completely stock, the Lexus produced 416 horsepower and 371 pound-feet (503 Nm). The UR-series V8 continues to be used by a handful of Lexus and Toyota models, but alas, a twin-turbocharged V6 serves as its heir apparent in applications that include the LX and the Land Cruiser.
Also gifted with all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic, the M340i xDrive is the dark horse of this bunch. BMW has a thing for underrating the B58 in pretty much every application, especially M Performance and M cars. Not as powerful or torquey as the souped-up sixer of the Kia, the B58 makes a great combo with the long-running 8HP that BMW calibrates better than other pretty much any automaker out there.
Pictured at the Dunnville Autodrome, these sedans needed as much as 13.5 seconds to finish the standing quarter mile. The IS F finished last, with the Stinger GT coming second in 12.9 seconds. The winner is – surprisingly - the M340i xDrive with an ET of 12.21 seconds. And on that bombshell, the ensuing roll race from 50 kilometers per hour (31 miles per hour) concluded with the JB4 map 3-modified Kia crossing the finish line just ahead of that seriously quick Bimmer.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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