At the Detroit Auto Show this week, Kia took the wraps off the new Stinger – a svelte sports sedan that aims to inject some excitement into the brand and lure buyers away from more upscale offerings.
But is a four-door sedan (or to be more precise, five-door since it is a liftback) the right form for the Stinger? Would it work better as, say, a coupe?
We’re not so sure. Rendering artist X-Tomi cooked up this impression of what the new Kia would look like without its rear doors. And while it may be a matter of personal taste, to our eyes it doesn’t do much to add to the car’s appeal – though it does make it a little less useful, and would be sure to sell in lower quantities as a result.
The four-door Stinger is set to be offered with two engine options, in either rear- or all-wheel drive. Output levels are still to be finalized, but the 2.0-liter turbo four (that Kia calls Theta II) will offer about 255 horsepower, while the Lambda II – a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 – will nudge closer to 365 hp for a 0-60 time of about five seconds.
If the Koreans gets the performance dynamics right and prices it competitively, it could have a winner on its hands. The discontinuation of the Chevy SS would ostensibly tell us the timing’s not right for a new performance sedan, but with a more “reasonable” engine as befits the times, the Kia could yet succeed where Chevy has failed – as a sedan, though… not a coupe.
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