New Kia Stinger Offers Heart-Pounding Power Under $40K
The high-performance Stinger GT comes standard with high-performance Brembo 4 disc brakes, and two turbocharged engines are available: The base Stinger and Premium trims get a 2.0-liter twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 255 horsepower with 260 lb.-ft. Stinger GT gets a more powerful 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 which produces 365 horsepower with 376 lb.-ft.
Both engines are matched to a second-generation eight-speed rear-drive automatic transmission. Inside, Stinger comes with leather seating and ultra-soft Nappa leather is available. A thick hand-stitched leather-wrapped steering wheel with paddle shifters sits front and center, while the GT trim gets a sporty flat-bottom steering wheel. All Stingers are available with a large color TFT instrument cluster with performance gauges including a track timer. The all-new 2018 Stinger fastback sport sedan is expected to arrive in Kia showrooms in December.
However, there is a 12.3-inch digital cluster and an upgraded MMI infotainment system with 4G LTE. Under the hood, the A3 Sedan sports a 220-horsepower 2.0-liter engine in the U.S., but the Chinese model comes with more options, including a 1.4-liter four-cylinder with 147 horsepower and a 1.8-liter four-banger with 177 horses.
Read our full review of the 2018 Audi A3 Sedan. Read our full story on the 2017 BMW 1 Series Sedan. While it’s definitely the most appealing and advanced vehicle in its niche, the A-Class L Sedan has a somewhat awkward position in the lineup. Despite being placed below the CLA in terms of model designation, the A-Class L is actually just as big as the four-door coupe, also available in China.
Sure, the CLA is about to get a redesigned and it will probably grow larger, but it still looks as if the A-Class L will leave the CLA without customers for a while. The latter might look sleeker, but it’s becoming dated technology-wise and it’s styling is getting older too. Needless to say, the A-Class L Sedan will probably dominate the market in China and it will definitely outgun the A3 Sedan once it becomes available (with the shorter wheelbase though) in Europe and the United States.
It isn’t even in the same zip codes as others, like the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300. I turned that one off right away. Stop-starts are often jerky, loud and incredibly noticeable, but this one wasn’t. The car started quietly and smoothly, and it was so fast—the S4 was ready to go before I could get my foot from the brake onto the gas while consciously trying to beat stop-start system. In full disclosure, I can be what you might call intensely frugal.
I’ve been known to fiercely protect my home-electricity costs to the point of people being afraid to turn on lights in my house. The loud engine noise doesn’t feel artificial, although it sounds just the same as the previous generation of the S4 did—fed in by a computer. Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained pulled the sound fuse on the S4 in a YouTube video from 2015, and its growl got noticeably less angry.
Any turbo lag was only really noticeable if you were paying close attention, and the car felt light for 3,858 pounds. The brakes are strong and pull the car to a stop easily, too. The S4’s heads-up display showing the speed limit, the car’s speed and other information is typical for a vehicle in its price range, but it’s helpful nonetheless. It also has straightforward commands for its adaptive cruise control, which actively manages your following distance in traffic.
But not all of the warnings in front of the driver are clear, like when a green foot shows up to apparently tell a driver to remove their foot from the gas because a situation ahead requires slowing down. It was strange that the car was programmed to tell a driver to take over during lane assist, too, since a lot of cars just ask for a tap of the wheel every however many seconds.
