2020 Kia Stinger vs 2021

What's the difference?

Is the Kia Stinger a flash in the pan? The truth is it hasn’t set the automotive world on fire since its reveal in January 2017. Pre-launch hype suggested it would, but it’s yet to live up to it… at least on the sales chart.

As we all know, large sedans are going out of fashion as the SUV phenomenon grows ever stronger. But the thing the Stinger has over the rest of the mainstream pack is it’s rear-wheel drive.

But is that traditional drive set-up still desirable in 2020? Especially when you only have four cylinders and one turbo to play with? We've parked the twin-turbo V6 version, and put the Stinger’s GT-Line variant to the test to find out.

There is nothing quite like a car company occasionally building a car that could be considered a risk. And there are all kinds of risks in the car business - the market isn't ready for that car, people don't identify your brand with this or that type of vehicle, the list goes on. And it's long. It's very easy for me to sit on the sidelines and say, "Pft, what were they thinking?" Few cars land on your driveway without years of thinking having already gone into their development.

The Kia Stinger is the kind of car that would have caused lots of thinking and plenty of hand-wringing at Kia HQ in Korea. Not because it was a bad idea - it wasn't. Not because it's a bad car - it is, in fact, the opposite. And not because SUVs have already changed the way we look at cars - Kia has done well out of that.

It's just that Kia has never produced a car like the Stinger. A five-door coupe-sedan, rear-wheel drive and with a focus on driver dynamics. Most of us know very well how the Stinger GT burst on to the scene in a blaze of well-deserved glory. It's not all about the GT, though. There's a whole range of Stingers and just below that very accomplished sports sedan is the Stinger GT-Line.