Everybody saw the Stinger GT drifting on the ice. But even the Volkswagen Golf R can do that. No, we're more interested in the type of drifting that turns tires into smoke, and the latest videos prove the Korean sports sedan's repertoire does include such skills.
There have been some pretty powerful Kia sedans in the past, but none of them have had the suspension tuning and rear differential to consistently transition in and out of drifts. Of course, a professional driver is behind the wheel, so your average ham-fisted bloke might not be this graceful.
The range-topping GT version of the car is aimed squarely at things like the BMW 4 Series, Mercedes-AMG C43, and Audi S5 Sportback. Some of those are faster by 0.2 seconds. But once you factor in the expected sub-$50,000 price of this model, a couple of tens of a second disappear from your thoughts. That's going to be the bargain of the year, considering the M2 stickers for $52,500.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kia did a lot of testing on a particular German track to ensure that its budget-minded Merc alternative is fun. The project was under the direct control of Albert Biermann, the former VP of Engineering at BMW M and also the guy in charge of the i30 N.
Besides the 365-horsepower V6, the Stinger will also be offered in a couple of regular flavors, namely a 2.0-liter gasoline turbo and a 2.2-liter diesel that's aimed squarely at the Europeans. Like on the Genesis G80 sister car, AWD is available too, complete with torque vectoring.
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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