The Kia Stinger GT Is A 360bhp, RWD Sports Saloon

Kias are - on the whole - rather nice. They’re well built, they’re practical, usually come with decent equipment levels and are sometimes even quite nice to look at. But exciting? That’s not an adjective that often comes up when describing the South Korean car maker, which is why this particular reveal is rather significant.

It’s called the Stinger GT, and it’s the first Kia that’s likely to pique the interest of the average petrolhead since the Pro_Ceed GT warm hatch. Rear-wheel drive? Check. Well over 300bhp? Check. Good looks? Well, it’s a little fussy at the rear, but to our eyes it’s prettiest Kia since, well, ever.

A 360bhp, 376lb ft 3.3-litre V6 powers the top-of-the-range model, sending its thrust rearwards via a mechanical limited-slip differential. 0-62mph takes 5.1 seconds, and the top speed is a decidedly un-Kia 167mph.

There is an optional all-wheel drive system with torque vectoring available - “depending on market,” says Kia - and at a later date there’ll be a lower-powered 2.0-litre entry-level model. Performance figures for the four-cylinder turbo aren’t in the press release, but with 252bhp and 260lb ft on tap, it should be suitably brisk.

This all sounds jolly nice on paper, but further reading makes us hopeful that the GT will be a decent steer too, as well as being quick in a straight line. 55 per cent of the car is made from high-strength steel to give “an ultra-stiff foundation for the ride-and-handling engineers to work with”. Hell, there’s even adaptive dampers, plus a setting on the TFT screen to display G-forces, lap times and oil temperature. Now we’re really far from traditional Kia territory.

It’s not going to be an out-and-out super saloon, though. In a rather telling quote, Kia Europe Chief Designer Gregory Guillaume says: “A true gran turismo, a car for spirited long-distance driving, is not about outright power, hard-edged dynamics and brutal styling, all at the expense of luxury, comfort and grace.” Don’t expect a cut-price BMW M3, in other words.

Speaking of which, what about rivals? That’s where things get a little tricky, as the Stinger GT sounds like a hard car to place. In terms of the V6, Kia is taking aim at the likes of the Audi S4, BMW 340i and Mercedes-AMG C43, but it’s actually longer and wider than all cars in that segment. And interestingly, the wheelbase is actually longer than that of a Mercedes CLS.

It’ll be cheaper than all of the above, although probably not by as much as you might expect. Pricing and specifications will be with us a little later in the year.

What do you think of Kia’s new GT come sports saloon? Would you have one over one of the more traditional, Germanic choices?