Kia themed their Detroit press conference around going to the movies – popcorn stand and all – and if you were to characterize a film about this upstart Korean company, it’d be set in fast-forward.
Case in point: the new GT4 Stinger concept that their design team just revealed. Resplendent in Hello-Officer-orange, the Stinger is a 2+2, rear-drive lightweight in the style of the Scion FR-S or Subaru BRZ.
Unlike those other two purist-pleasers, the Stinger has a sting in its nose: a 315-horespower, 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder sends the power to the back through a six-speed manual with every intention of smokin’ the tires. While it’s a sleek-shape in tangerine with a hint of the Nissan GT-R’s wraparound visor windshield, the Kia may well be a Hyundai Genesis underneath (no word officially), making this concept pretty much production ready.
Kia’s K900 premium sedan would already shock anyone who hasn’t followed the brand’s ascendancy over the past few years, and that car is based on the Genesis sedan. It makes a lot of sense for this eager company to make use of its Hyundai connections for underpinnings – how and when we’ll see a production-ready Stinger remains to be seen.
