I spent some time over the past week talking to some folks from Kia->ke41 that happen to be "in the know," and our conversation turned to the GT4 Stinger. In conversation, I mentioned that I think Kia's stance that it has no intent of manufacturing the powerful sports coupe->ke141 is complete hooey, and I got "the look." You know, the one that obviously means "yeah right." The source went on to elaborate that officials have internally announced that a production version of the GT4 Stinger will be in showrooms by the end of 2014.
According to my source, the exterior is finalized and it will look nearly identical to the concept that we saw at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show->ke222, including those bad-ass headlights. The interior, on the other hand, is still "in development," but I certainly don't expect to see any drastic changes from the concept.
Under the hood, things remain a mystery, even to my source. The concept version of the GT4 Stinger carries a 2.0-liter, four-pot engine that pumps out 315 horsepower. Chances are that we'll see something closer to the 274 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque that the 2014 Optima SX Turbo's 2.0-liter engine produces. Kia can likely squeeze an extra 10 to 15 horsepower from this engine with a few electrical mods, so 290 horsepower is certainly attainable without any heavy changes.
My source did not disclose when exactly Kia would unveil the production version of the GT4 Stinger, but we assume it will be in the final quarter of 2014.
Stay tuned for more information.
Click past the jump to read about the Kia GT4 Stinger Concept.
The Kia GT4 Stinger rolled into Detroit and blew our minds. Kia has been rapidly rebranding itself with the Optima SX Turbo and Forte SX Turbo, but seeing a 315-horsepower sports coupe coming from the Korean brand is exciting as hell. Hyundai has already started this process with its Veloster Turbo and Veloster Turbo R-Spec, and now Kia is primed to overtake its sister company with the GT4.
Initially, Kia claimed that it had no intentions to produce this awesomely powerful coupe, but our sources let us know that it will indeed hit production by the end of 2014. We'll keep an eye out for more information and let you know when we get more info.