Car and Driver - USA (2019-12)

66 DECEMBER 2019 ~ CAR AND DRIVER

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2000. It’s a put-your-money-where-your-
      mouth-is sort of promise designed to boost
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      Stinger’s sticker and high feature count,
      this warrant y helps you sleep a little better
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      will keep spinning for a long time.
      We took some lengthy trips in the
      Stinger during its 17 -month stay, but it never
      went too far from the Midwest. It wasn’t the
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      driving, but its size, comfort, and power
      made it an excellent high-speed people
      hauler, a Korean cruise missile, a working
      man’s Porsche Panamera. Like a Panamera,
      it’s a blend of stylish, sporty, and practical,
      except here it comes with a friendlier price.
      Due to our ordering mistake, the Stinger
      arrived wearing optional 225/45R- 18 Bridge-
      stone all-seasons instead of the standard
      19 -inch Michelin Pilot Sport 4 summer tires.
      Kia supplied us with a set of the summers,
      which we installed as the Stinger showed
      10,073 miles on the odometer.
      If playing Porsche is what you want from
      your Kia, the Stinger delivers. Its t win-tur-
      bocharged 3.3-liter V- 6 is good for 365
      horsepower, and the eight-speed automatic
      churns seamlessly through the gears. After
      respecting the 600 -mile break-in period, we
      took the Stinger to the track and strapped
      on the test equipment. It hit 60 mph in 4.6

Rants

and

Raves

People pull up and

ask about the

Stinger: “That’s a

Kia? What Kia?”

—CAROLYN

PAVIA-RAUCHMAN

This chassis

needs more starch.

—MIKE SUTTON

Put this [engine]

in a BMW product

and I’d never

suspect it wasn’t

from Bavaria.

—ERIC STAFFORD

Some cars hide

their age well.

This Kia does not.

—ALEXANDER STOKLOSA

Rotors warped.

Again. Hatch

rattling. Again.

—JOSH JACQUOT

seconds, stopped from 70 mph in 179 feet, and

held on to the skidpad at 0. 85 g on the all-sea-

sons. The summer-rubber test four months

later bumped lateral acceleration to 0. 89 g and

chopped the stopping distance to 170 feet.

As time with the Stinger passed, we came

to appreciate the ease with which it slides

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ples brilliantly with the four-door’s all-wheel-

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stability regardless of road surface. Lay heavily

into the accelerator entering any of Michigan’s

two-lanes—a move that almost always starts

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dently squats and goes where it’s pointed with

zero drama. It’ll even do it on mud, snow, slush,

and gravel shaped like ball bearings.

Big, 19-inch wheels

with summer tires and

four-piston Brembos

kept the Kia’s “tiger

nose” from imprint-

ing on other cars.