Kia Stinger 2017 News

The Stinger will be the most performance-oriented offering in Kia’s line-up and will compete with European sports sedans such as the Audi A5 Sportback.

Kia's sensational Stinger show car will become a road-going reality in Australia in a little more than a year.

Kia stunned all with the GT4 Stinger sports coupe concept at last month’s Detroit motor show, but a new report suggests the Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ rival has not only been green lit for production, but it will make its showroom debut before the end of 2014.Speaking with anonymous Kia insiders, Top Speed reports that the GT4 Stinger concept was close to production ready – despite Kia’s refusal to confirm a production future at the time.According to the report, the two-door coupe’s exterior design has been finalised, including those ADR-challenging low-mounted headlights, but the show car’s heavily stylised interior is expected to be scaled back for production.The car is expected to ride on a version of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe platform, and use an uprated version of its 204kW 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine that is also available in the US-market Sonata sedan. Kia claimed 235kW for the GT4 Stinger concept, which likely well within the tuning limits for this engine.  We agree that such a rapid concept-to-reality plan sounds just a little tenuous, and it’s not April 1 just yet, but I’m sure we’d all love the chance to drive a production GT4 Stinger by the next time Santa fires up his sleigh. Watch the desktop version of the Kia GT4 Stinger concept Detroit unveiling video here. This reporter is on Twitter: @Mal_Flynn 

Nearly everything about the GT Stinger hints that Kia is on the way to adding the first sports car to its range. The concept car at Detroit may look like a radical departure for the brand, but the custom chassis and independent rear suspensin it rides on shows that this is more than just a skin-deep design indulgence.The sleek design with see-through A-pillars looks purposeful, and a sports-focused interior with huggy seats and flat-bottomed steering wheel echoes that attitude.We already know those pumped wheel-arches are filled with 20-inch alloys dressed with weight-shedding strengthening carbon-fibre inserts, 275/35R20 Pirelli P-Zero performance tyres and Brembo Gran Turismo two-piece cross-drilled rotors with four-piston calipers.We've also already had a look at its Ignition Yellow face with the Peter Schreyer-designed signature 'tiger mouth' morphed into a low-slung grille surrounded by a glowing bezel, and flanked by LED headlights.And Kia has also revealed under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder developing 235kW (33kW more than the 2.0-litre in the current Hyundai Genesis Coupe) but mated to a short-ratio six-speed automatic driving the rear wheels.However the brand has said there are no current plans to build a production version of  the GT Stinger, but hints strongly about a future possibility with the statement that it “has a history of delivering production vehicles that bear a strong resemblance to the concept that preceded them, and the GT4 Stinger provides a possible and highly provocative glimpse into Kia’s future. ”

The GT4 Stinger Concept exterior looks cover new ground for the Korean motoring brand with a low-slung grille flanked by LED headlights, see-through A-pillars and custom 20-inch wheels with carbon-fibre inserts.The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine has 235kW of power driven through the rear wheels with a six speed automatic transmission.

The wraps will fully come off the Kia GT Stinger at next week's Detroit motor show, but the Korean carmaker is doing a slow tease in the meantime.

Following on from the birds-eye view of its coming 2+2 coupe concept teased in December, Kia has released a second angle of the car, this time showing the front with a low-slung grille set in a glowing bezel, flanked by columns of LEDs serving as the headlights.Kia says the GT4 rolls on custom 20-inch wheels with brakes cooled via vents in the front fascia, while a carbon-fibre front splitter adds downforce and some cosmetic aggression to the nose, which – with its front wheelarches looming behind – bears more than a passing resemblance to the attitude of the Audi R8.The car is a rear-wheel drive car – suggesting again it's spawned from Hyundai's Genesis coupe – and if it hits the showroom would give Kia a sporty halo model.  However this could also simply be a design concept to dip a toe into the responses for possible future ideas.The GT4 Stinger will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder developing 235kW (33kW more than the 2.0-litre in the current Genesis Coupe) and is likely to carry the same eight-speed automatic.The GT4 name was briefly leaked on a Kia Facebook page a few days after the first tease – and then quickly pulled down --  but the Korean carmaker is holding back further details until the silk comes off the car in Detroit in January 13.The new Genesis Coupe is also being revealed in Detroit, following which it will arrive in Australian showrooms in its first right-hand drive version.