Kia Stinger spied in Sydney

KIA’S game-changing Stinger sports sedan has been spotted on Australian roads undisguised and in the open ahead of its official local launch date in September.

Quick-shooting Wheels reader, Brad, spied the 2.0-litre turbo variant of the South Korean car maker’s flagship on Sydney streets but Kia has confirmed that a 3.3-litre turbo V6 version is also doing the rounds in New South Wales’s capital, dressed up in white.

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Kia Australia Media and Corporate Communications General Manager Kevin Hepworth told Wheels that the sporty pair were engineering assessment vehicles and clocking up Australian kilometres as part of the final chassis tuning that every Kia undergoes locally.

“They are here to fine tune the work that’s already been done in Namyang on the ride and handling,” he said. “They are first-build cars and their sole purpose in life will be to validate the ride and handling.”

Australian tennis fans may have already met the Stinger featured here when it made its local debut at the Australian Open tournament in Melbourne in January this year. Hepworth explained that the vehicles were “P1” cars and among the first to be built.

The pictures have coincidentally emerged on the same day that the Stinger made its Asian debut at the Seoul Motor Show in Kia’s native South Korea, along with a performance update for the rear-drive 3.3-litre version.

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Before its world premiere at the Detroit show in January, Kia was reporting that the fastest version of the Stinger would manage the benchmark zero to 100km/h dash in 5.1 seconds, but it has now revised that to 4.9s – as fast as an Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

Heavier all-paw versions are expected to be closer to the original 5.1s educated guess.

The Seoul appearance also revealed a new rich yellow paint tone, highlighted by carbonfibre embellishments applied to the bonnet vents, grille, mirror caps and brake ducts.

Kia fans as hawk-eyed as Brad will notice that the Seoul show cars have ursurped the Kia bonnet badge in favour of a new design that is understood to be confined to the Korean domestic market but the Stinger will proudly wear the Kia brand in Australia.

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When it arrives in Australia in approximately six months, both the 272kW 3.3-litre and 188kW 2.0-litre are expected, with the entry-level offering priced somewhere in the $40,000 bracket.

A third 2.2-litre diesel will also be sold in other global markets, but is less likely for Australia.