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That the Kia Stinger looks as outrageously low and mean as it does is perhaps our highest praise for the new four-door sport hatch. Few and far between are cars that survive the bureaucracy-filled odyssey from show stand to showroom without suffering character-killing dilution. Yet the production Stinger’s shape matches nearly line for line that of the Kia GT Concept, which made its debut at the 2011 Frankfurt motor show. Production realities excised the concept’s rear-hinged rear doors, added B-pillars, and transformed its wing cameras into conventional door-mounted side mirrors. Otherwise, the similarities are as plain as day. The GT’s grille-flanking intake scoops remain on the production car, as do the wraparound taillamps, which terminate in reflectors on the rear quarter-panels. The rear side windows, too, share their distinctive quarter-round shape with the GT Concept’s. Even the Stinger’s name, which shrouds the car in the same majesty as greats such as the Plymouth Fury and the Hillman Imp, hints that something is different about this Kia. Part of that something—a big part of it, actually—is shocking straight-line performance. READ MORE ››
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