2018 Kia Stinger GT optional exhaust quick performance review

Although Kia doesn’t plan to shove a V8 in the Stinger anytime soon, it’s at least made an effort to intensify the V6’s growl. For $2600 you can now bolt an optional cat-back system, developed right here in Australia, to the 3.3-litre engine.

This might seem like the piece to complete the Stinger puzzle since the stock set-up would sound a little breathless and thrashy if it wasn’t for some artificial noise coming through the speakers in the interior.

9

Unfortunately, though, this exhaust doesn’t deliver the note the V6 Stinger deserves, not to our ears anyway. There’s a fair bit of low-frequency waffle from the system at all times.

The automatic doesn’t help, either, in its determination to knock you out off manual mode constantly and keep the revs from reaching 4000-5000rpm, where it sounds a bit like a BMW N55. Even there its scream is muffled by a resonance that sounds far from OEM; there’s never a crispness to it.

9

We didn’t expect Kia to carve half a Lambo V12 from just a cat-back system, but based on our drive of the prototype version months ago, and hearing videos of aftermarket systems, we did expect better.

Hopefully Kia can improve the second time around on the exhaust its developing for its four-cylinder, expected Q4.

9

2018 KIA STINGER GT SPECS:

Engine: 3342cc V6, DOHC, 24v twin-turbo
Power: 272kW @ 6000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1300rpm
Drive: rear-wheel
Weight: 1780kg
Price: $55,990