PETALING JAYA, July 11 — Driving enthusiasts have something to rejoice with the launch of the new Kia Stinger GT by Naza Kia Malaysia Sdn Bhd (NKM) at their showroom in Petaling Jaya today.

The Kia Stinger GT is built on the Gran Turismo (GT) concept of a sport sedan, and in the true spirit of a GT car, the Stinger GT is rear-wheel drive, which will be one of the reasons why it will gain the interest of true car lovers.

Datuk Samson Anand George, Group CEO , Automobile Group, Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd, said, "The Kia Stinger is the culmination of years of passion and commitment fuelled by the brand’s bold and adventurous spirit to amalgamate nimble performance and unyielding style.

To meet customer demands in Malaysia, we are introducing two variants of the Kia Stinger, the 3.3 litre V6 GT and the 2.0 litre GT-Line, both sports sedans that exude disarming confidence, elegance and athleticism.”

"Driven by Kia’s motto ‘The Power to Surprise’, the Kia Stinger ushers in a new era of innovation for the Korean brand while preserving its DNA to deliver the best performance, comfort and features. With that, we believe the Kia Stinger will elevate the brand’s identity and will be a revolutionary benchmark for the future of Kia models,” added Samson.

The Kia Stinger comes sleek with a fastback design – its aggressive ‘tiger-nose’ grille, wide stance and aero-dynamic profile certainly makes the Stinger stand out from the rest.

The Kia Stinger has gained worldwide recognition, having received an EyesOn Design Award for Production Car Design Excellence at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in 2017.

With the upper echelon of the market as its target, the interior trim is similarly well-appointed to appeal to the segment.

The Kia Stinger was developed with its European competitors in mind, which explains its rear-wheel drive configuration, and much tuning and chassis developments were done on the Nurburgring race circuit.

Power-wise, the 3.3 litre Direct Injection V6 gets dual turbochargers, one for each bank, to develop 370PS at 6,000rpm, while pushing out an awesome 510Nm of torque, available form 1,300rpm through to 4,500rpm.

The GT-Line is powered by a four-cylinder Direct Injection engine with a twin-scroll turbo, and maximum power is 255PS at 6,200rpm, with 353Nm torque from 1,400rpm through to 4,000rpm.

Both engines are made of aluminium, and power is to the rear wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission in both cases. The engines are laid out in the traditional North-South direction for rear-wheel drive vehicles.

The Kia Stinger uses the well-proven front MacPherson strut suspension at the front while the rear uses a multi-link arrangement, which enthusiasts will love for the ease of modifications, if necessary.

A direct result of the Stinger’s race track heritage would be its close-ratio electric power steering. The GT-Line comes with a fixed steering ratio that results in only 2.4 turns lock to lock, while the GT has a variable ratio with 2.2 turns lock to lock.

The GT-Line gets four disc brakes, with single pot calipers, vented discs at the front and solid discs at the rear. The more powerful GT gets larger vented discs for all four wheels with Brembo 4-pot calipers at the front and 2-pot calipers at the rear.

According to the data received, both the cars get Electronically Controlled suspension, Launch Control System, and Limit Slip differentials. There are five driver modes for the driver to select from. There are many other tech items that are in the package, not mentioned, but basically the Stinger is way above its class in this department.

Interestingly, the Kia Stinger’s dimensions put it in the D/E segment – just as interesting is the two engine specifications – the GT-Line now stands out as a D/E segment GT with marginally higher performance than the BMW 4-Series Coupe, in a larger body, while the 3.3 litre GT stands out as a GT with power marginally lower than the Mercedes E43, and sized just a tad smaller.

For buyers of the Stinger GT-Line, the selling price of RM239,888 is going to make it very attractive against the BMW 4-Series, because it is priced at the level of a 3-Series with a slightly higher power output, while those looking at the Stinger GT with its asking price of RM307,888 will be very confused as to why the Koreans can sell such a power/size/premium package at such an affordable price.

As for me, I find the car very interesting, and would like to give it a go — Samson, at the launch, told me I must get behind the wheels of the Stinger GT — make it soon, please!