Al Attiya Motors & Trading Co, held a special event at the Losail International Circuit, to show KIA Motors’ new powerful sports sedan the “Stinger”. Displayed in public for the first time in Qatar this was the perfect opportunity for car enthusiasts to finally get to see this highly anticipated car since it was first unveiled in 2011 as the GT concept.
The KIA Stinger was officially launched at the event by Mr Abdul Aziz Al Attiya of Al Attiya Motors & Trading Co. the exclusive distributor of Kia vehicles in Qatar. The All-New KIA Stinger captured the attention of the media and spectators who were fascinated by itshigh performance, luxury amenities, and head-turning design.
From the initial concept introduced as the Kia GT Concept Car, the dream has finally become a reality and the Kia Stinger officially joins the Kia's sedan lineup.
The all-new 2018 Kia Stinger design was overseen by Peter Schreyer, Kia Motors' chief design officer, and Gregory Guillaume, chief designer, Kia Motors Europe. It's poised to redefine a segment that's currently populated by European automakers and is the highest-performance production vehicle in the company’s history, while possessing Kia Motors’ quality and reliability. With luxurious comforts, high-performance engine, and advanced technology, the 2018 Kia Stinger delivers an incredible driving experience.
The beautifully designed 2018 Stinger overflowing with power, passion and performance really grabs your attention. It has a muscular look, from its sleek front clip through its svelte flanks, and up to its powerful haunches. Key to its road presence are the rear-wheel-drive proportions, with a long hood and short front overhang, an extended wheelbase to deliver a spacious cabin, and a long rear overhang with strong shoulders. Kia’s signature "tiger-nose" grille sits proudly between complex LED headlamps, while the rear valance houses four oval exhaust pipes.
The new Kia Stinger, a powerful fastback sports sedan, (hereafter Stinger) closely follows the design and engineering blueprint laid down by the 2011 Kia GT Concept. It is the highest-performance production vehicle in the company’s history.
The Stinger is the result of years of impassioned design and development work at Kia. Six years after the company revealed its powerful statement of intent in the GT Concept, the Stinger will go on sale in Qatar during the fourth quarter of 2017.
The Stinger channels the spirit of historic grand tourers – powerful, elegant vehicles capable of moving their owners in style, at speed. At every stage of development, the Stinger has been designed and engineered to be the perfect Gran Turismo. The car features a head-turning aesthetic, ample room to accommodate five occupants and their luggage. It’s stable, unruffled ride, is matched by nimble handling with engaging, rear-biased power delivery.
In its transition from concept to production, Kia’s GT Concept was renamed ‘Stinger’, inspired by the GT4 Stinger concept revealed at NAIAS 2014. While the car is a true GT in nature, the Stinger name evokes speed and excitement, two key characteristics found in the production car.
Delivering exhilarating power, the KIA Stinger will be available in Qatar with a commanding 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 engine, paired with the second-generation of KIA’s electronic eight-speed automatic transmission, which is fitted as standard with all engines. The smooth and supple in the way it shifts gears, the transmission works with the driver to extract the best performance and comfort balance depending on inputs.
Design
Key to its road presence are its rear-wheel drive proportions – a long bonnet and short 830 mm front overhang, an extended wheelbase (2,905 mm) to deliver a spacious cabin, and a long rear overhang (1,095 mm) with strong, broad shoulders. The Stinger’s stance, proportion and visual balance are designed to lend the car an air of elegance and athleticism, rather than aggression and brutality. The Stinger measures 4,830 mm in length and 1,870 mm in width, making it longer and wider than many sport sedans, and allowing for a spacious cabin and cargo area. With a 406-litre cargo capacity (VDA), the Stinger’s boot can accommodate two full-size suitcases or golf bags, or four or five weekend bags for short trips away.
The ‘Coke bottle’ shape of the car’s flanks highlight and enhance the visual power of the Stinger’s shoulder line, as well as its fastback silhouette. Other purely functional elements of the exterior design – the front air curtains, wheel arch gills, smooth underbody, and integrated rear diffuser – aid its aerodynamic efficiency.
Top-specification GT models feature dark chrome highlights and gloss black diffuser, complemented by larger 19-inch wheels, LED headlamps, dual twin exhausts and Brembro disc brakes with red callipers.
The layout and atmosphere of the low-slung cabin complement external Gran Turismo visual cues, with a steeply-raked windscreen and high dashboard running along a horizontal plane. The dashboard’s center console is split into two specific areas: the infotainment controls sit neatly below a large color touchscreen, while the climate and ventilation controls sit beneath. In front of the driver is a thick, leather-wrapped steering wheel.
Aeronautically-inspired spoked circular vents feature in the front and rear, while a strip of satin chrome encircles the cabin. The effect is a feeling of cocooned intimacy. However, the long wheelbase, four-door body, and fastback silhouette allow for generous front and rear leg room, and the low seating position provides ample head room for all passengers. In its lowest setting, the driver’s seat is just 180 mm above the road – 45 mm lower than that of the Kia Optima sedan – for a low-slung, performance-oriented driving position.
Engine
Kia Qatar will be stocking Stinger’s most powerful engine which is a 3.3-litre twin-turbocharged V6 ‘Lambda II’ gasoline engine, with peak power of 370 ps arriving at 6,000 rpm, and 510 Nm torque accessible from 1,300 to 4,500 rpm. GT models powered by the 3.3-litre turbocharged engine can accelerate from 0-to-100 kph in just 4.9 seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating production Kia ever. With this engine, Kia is targeting a top speed of 270 kph (167 mph).
The Stinger features the second-generation of Kia’s electronic eight-speed automatic transmission, which is fitted as standard with all engines. Designed in-house, the eight-speed transmission rewards drivers with immediate shifts and optimum fuel efficiency. More typically found in aviation and racing applications, the Stinger’s transmission marks Kia’s first use of a Centrifugal Pendulum Absorber (CPA) torque converter, reducing torsional vibrations through the drivetrain. The transmission offers up to five different shift and throttle settings (as well as levels of steering assistance – see below), which drivers can select through the car’s electronic Drive Mode Select. Drivers can leave the car to shift for itself, or change gears with steering wheel-mounted paddles.
The Stinger is Kia’s first sedan to be available with either rear- or all-wheel drive – the latter offering enhanced dynamic capability in even the most challenging conditions, ideal for the Qatar surroundings. In its rear-wheel drive format, power is distributed throughout the rear axle by an optional mechanical limited slip differential. The rear-biased all-wheel drive system is equipped with Dynamic Torque Vectoring Control, which monitors driver inputs and road conditions, automatically applying power and braking force to the appropriate wheels to maintain course in the wet or dry.
Ride and handling
Kia has sought to create a car with driving dynamics that live up to its stunning design. To fulfill this brief, the Stinger’s ride and handling were honed at Germany’s infamous NürburgringNordschleife, under the watch of Albert Biermann, Head of Kia’s Vehicle Test and High-Performance Development. A Gran Turismo by design and by nature, the Stinger’s test regime was established to make it capable of taking every kind of road in its stride.
The Stinger’s bodyshell provides an ultra-stiff foundation for the car’s suspension components, and contributes to reduced noise and vibration for a quiet cabin.
The MacPherson strut front suspension system has been tuned to optimize feedback to the driver, as well as maximize steering response and stability in all conditions. At the rear, a multi-link suspension setup aids handling responses, with a reinforced anti-roll bar for high stability and minimal body vibrations.
The Stinger also features an electronically-adjustable suspension system, Electronic Controlled Suspension (ECS). While always reacting predictably to the driver’s inputs, the system can be tuned via the Drive Mode Select depending on road conditions and driving style. ECS can be used to firm or soften the front and rear dampers independently, for tailored ride, response and agility. ECS can also assist drivers in ensuring a predictable driving line through corners. The system can soften the front suspension and firm the rear suspension for greater agility, reducing understeer, as well as being able to stiffen the front and slacken the rear slightly to combat oversteer and ensure greater stability. Drivers can choose from five drive modes: Eco, Sport, Sport+, Comfort and Smart.
A variable ratio rack-mounted motor driven power steering system (R-MDPS) features an electric motor mounted directly on the steering rack, which affords more immediate responses and reduced vibration compared to systems with column-mounted motors. Steering assistance and weight is also adjustable via the Drive Mode Select system.
The 3.3-liter V6 is shod with staggered ultra-high performance Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires that have been specifically engineered and tuned for the Stinger; 225/40R-19 in front and 255/35R-19 at the rear. As part of its GT specification, the 3.3-litre V6 Stinger features high-performance ventilated disc brakes from Brembo® as standard (350 mm at the front, 340 mm at the rear), with quad-piston front calipers and dual-piston rear calipers.
Safety
Kia Motors is all about safety and they have received many awards for their designs and implementations of safety features. Kia’s commitment to continuous improvements in the safety and security of our vehicles can be seen throughout the development of all our vehicles.
Offering luxurious amenities and unexpected features have become part of Kia’s DNA and the Stinger continues that tradition. Multiple Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) seamlessly work together to enhance the driving experience.
A Kia first is the new Driver Attention Warning (DAW)4 system to help combat distracted or drowsy driving. The system monitors a number of inputs from the vehicle and the driver and will sound a warning chime and display a graphic in the instrument binnacle that it’s time to take a break from driving if it senses the driver’s attention level has been significantly reduced.
Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA)4 with pedestrian detection can detect a potential collision with another vehicle or pedestrian and help bring the car to a halt. Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go (SCC w/ S&G)4 maintains a pre-set distance between the Stinger and the vehicle in front and can bring the car to a full stop in congested traffic. Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)4 actively monitors the vehicle’s intended lane and will alert the driver with an audible warning along with providing steering input to help maintain the vehicle’s position. Blind Spot Collision Warning (BCW)4 includes Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning (RCCW)4 which scans the area behind the vehicle when backing from a parking space and will alert the driver with an audible warning if cross traffic is detected.
The Stinger is equipped as standard with Kia’s Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), ensuring stability under braking and cornering by controlling the car’s Electronic Stability Control (ESC) if it detects a loss of traction.
The Stinger’s passive safety is underpinned by the body structure’s high proportion of Advanced High Strength Steel, as well as seven standard airbags (driver and front passenger, front side, curtain and driver knee airbags).
The rear parking assist system is a sonar system that detects obstacles when backing up. When an object is detected, it emits an audible warning. Another variation of this detects objects in the front and back, found on the Kia Stinger.
For a complete view of the drivers’ surroundings, the touchscreen comes with an Around View Monitor, or in other words, a bird’s eye view of the car that uses four cameras to show obstacles behind the car and in its immediate vicinity. Blind-Spot Detection also helps with this, alerting the driver to vehicles in their blind spot with a visual cue in their exterior mirror.
These features enable the driver to have eyes on the back of their head, and all around the vehicle for that matter.
Technology
Connectivity, entertainment and vehicle information can be as important as a dynamic driving experience and the Stinger comes to market with the latest infotainment systems. The height-adjustable color Head-Up Display (HUD)5 display enables the driver to see key driving information reflected on the windshield glass, including speed, turn-by-turn navigation, audio and cruise control settings and Blind Spot Detection information. Resting within the center console is a wireless smartphone charging pad, while Bluetooth integration is standard as well as the Stinger being equipped with a 8.0-inch navigation system.
About Kia Motors Corporation
Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) – a maker of world-class quality vehicles for the young-at-heart – was founded in 1944 and is Korea's oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. Over 3 million Kia vehicles a year are produced at 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in five countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering around 180 countries. Kia today has over 51,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of over US$45 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive partner of FIFA – the governing body of the FIFA World Cup™. Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan – "The Power to Surprise" – represents the company's global commitment to surprise the world by providing exciting and inspiring experiences that go beyond expectations.
For more information about Kia Motors and our products, please visit our Global Media Center at www.kianewscenter.com.
Interested parties are welcome to try the test drive unit first in the KIA Motors Qatar showroom in Al Rayyan Road in the Al Sadd area. The showroom is open daily and can be contacted as well at 44039444 or www.kiaqatarcom.