MOTORING


A sting


Back in the late 1950s, Maserati’s 3500 was the first car to wear a GTi badge. It wasn’t the first GT, but it did spark a trend whereby smaller cars could claim to be Grand Tourers. Since the 1970s, anything


offering slightly sportier performance wore the badge, including many hot hatchbacks that were anything but ‘grand’. Think Peugeot 205, Citroen Visa


and AX, Renault 5 and the now iconic and much-vaunted VW Golf... pocket rockets one and all but none of them cars you’d want to cruise Europe in or drive 3,000 miles across the USA. But Kia’s latest model, the


Stinger, wears the badge with pride, aiming to reintroduce the original ethos of the GT tag. For a start it’s not a pocket


rocket. Yes, technically, it is a hatchback and yes it is quick, but it’s a lot bigger and offers far more comfort than its smaller forebears. Internally, there is plenty of room


front and back for a family of five and the boot will accommodate


76 business network May 2018


in the tail


There was a time when a GT badge meant something special. The letters stood for Grand Tourer (or Tourismo) and were usually added to sportier cars at the larger, more luxurious end of a marque’s model range. We sent motoring journalist Nick Jones to see if the new Kia Stinger could restore the grandeur of those two enormous letters.


their luggage for a long trip. So it can claim ‘grand’. It is also very well appointed,


with a nice internal finish bordering on sumptuous, reinforcing the ‘grand’ bit of GT. It’s also a spritely performer,


capable in 2.2-litre petrol format of topping 60mph from a standing start in under six seconds on the way to a very impressive 149mph top speed. That means it can cruise


comfortably at motorway speeds all day and can return combined cycle fuel economy of 35.8mpg while kicking out emissions of just 181g/km, so it’s definitely a tourer. The big challenge for Kia isn’t the


car itself – let’s be honest this Korean marque has come a long, long way since it first came to UK shores in 1991, back then challenging Skoda for top honours in the bargain basement – it’s the target market for this £32,000 grand tourer. Kia has aimed the Stinger at the


tyres of upper models from the BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz stables, hoping to deflate their sales


at least slightly by offering a genuine grand tourer at hot hatch money. Despite the tempting price,


however, it’s going to be a fight Kia probably won’t win; the badge just doesn’t have the snob value of its German rivals. But in every other respect, it’s a no brainer. The Stinger is a good-looking


car. It’s low and sleek and draws attention even in your local supermarket car park. I particularly liked the slim A-


pillars (between the windscreen and the front doors) which mean better visibility, the teardrop-like headlights and the swage lines along the sides. At the rear, it’s not dissimilar to


those Maserati Grand Tourers of old, especially when you see those two pairs of exhaust outlets which are reminiscent of the marque’s Quattroporte models. There are three engines available on this first generation Stinger, a


FACTFILE


MODEL Kia Stinger 2.0 T-GDi


PRICE OTR From £32,025


PERFORMANCE Top Speed: 149mph 0-60 mph: 5.8 seconds


CO2 EMISSIONS 181g/km


COMBINED MPG 35.8mpg


‘The Stinger is a good-looking car. It’s low and sleek and draws attention’


diesel and two petrols. My test car was the 244bhp turbocharged 2.0- litre T GDi petrol but there is also a 197bhp 2.2-litre diesel and a flagship 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 version, the latter available only in the range-topping GT-S trim which comes with a raft of additional luxury car features and sportier styling, although the standard kit is pretty impressive. All engines are coupled to an


eight-speed automatic gearbox which is delightfully smooth and the handling is good. The car feels assured on the road and you can push it through corners with confidence. The driving position is spot-on,


adjustments are numerous and you feel snug in a really high-quality interior. There is an easy-to-use and intuitive eight-inch infotainment touch-screen through which to navigate various settings for the car or the entertainment package.


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