Man, this car is slick. It’s long and low with curves in all the right places. Kia toed the line between in-your-face sportiness and luxury with every design decision on this car. I don’t often feel the urge to look back at a car as I walk away, but the Stinger has a way of drawing my eye back to it wherever I go. The bright red paint might be partially responsible for this, but I’ve found I’m not alone.
Everywhere I drive, this car turns heads and brings about inquisitive stares from onlookers — the Kia badge just causes brows to furrow deeper. Never in history have random passersby been this interested in a Kia. It makes sense, though. We don’t often see completely new, from-the-ground-up sports sedans these days.
Big car, but a small back seat
The usable space in the rear seat runs counter to how long and large the car looks. First off, the way the door is shaped makes for a narrow space to slide your body through. It’s wide on top but narrows closer to the ground. That’s no problem for a young and limber person such as myself, but less flexible folk may find it annoying. With the seat positioned for my 5-foot-10-inch frame, rear legroom is a bit scarcer than I would have thought. Throwing kids back there would be fine, but it still came off as one of the larger disappointments in my book.
It has a dual personality
This car firmly plants itself onto the list of ideal daily drivers. Leave it in Comfort mode, turn the Harman Kardon stereo up, and relax on your way to the office. Twist the dial over to Sport, and you’ll blow everybody else away getting on the highway as you head home. Like we said in our last long-term update, the Stinger is the perfect GT car, and we stand by that.
The key fob deserves a shoutout
Not many key fobs are worth talking about, and if they are, it’s normally only brought up for chastisement. The Stinger’s key is arguably the coolest one out there. Its design and button placement make me feel like I’m hitting the trigger to activate an explosive device every time I lock the car. Making a fun, yet functional key like this one is a great example of Kia sweating the small stuff on this car. Why shouldn’t a device you interact with on a daily basis be something that brings a smile to your face?
Fuel is cheap; you’ll want it to stay that way
Our Stinger GT drinks premium fuel and gets mileage that corresponds with its 365 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque. I managed to average just under 23 mpg on a highway road trip from Detroit to Buffalo.