Kia GT4 Stinger, potential Twin beater???

[WolfpackS2k]

Surprised nobody has made a thread for this yet. Just a concept for the moment, but it's a fully functional vehicle with mostly off the shelf working parts. Definitely looks like production is probable. And if it does go to production, will it eat the BRZ's lunch? On paper the answer is a resounding yes.

RWD 2+2 coupe
turbocharged 2.0 liter 4 cylinder, 315 hp
6 speed manual transmission
103.1 in wheelbase and 169.7 in overall length is just a few inches longer than the BRZ
lower and wider than the BRZ
2874 lb curb weight (odd that they're being that specific with the weight of a "concept" vehicle)




http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/13/k...-detroit-2014/

[ZDan]

Looks GREAT. Nice and small and LOW. Hope they can keep that low hoodline/fenderline...

If they can do it for ~$35k, I'm there.

[raven1231]

There's multiple threads on this and the Toyota concept

[DarkSunrise]

As we learn more about this car, it appears that the right boxes are being ticked.

- RWD, check
- Coupe/hardtop, check
- Similarly small dimensions to Twins, check
- Power, check
- Light weight, check

The only caveat is that the listed weight is of the concept. It's great that the concept weighs that much, but the production vehicle will no doubt weigh more after safety, emissions, and comfort features are added.

The other thing that concerns me is driving feel. Toyota/Subaru proved in the past that they had the expertise to make proper driver's cars. And they obviously came through with teh Twins. But Kia, not so much in their history to make me confident in them.

Driving feel, actual curb weight, and price will be the final boxes that Kia will need to tick IMO, but I like what I'm seeing so far.

[WolfpackS2k]

^agreed - main concern would be the "feel". Steering, shifting, etc. Especially given how poor the Genesis is in this area.

Originally Posted by raven1231

There's multiple threads on this and the Toyota concept

What does the Toyota concept have to do with anything? That car is going to compete with the Corvette - irrelevant to the Twins. And multiple threads on this car? Forum search for Kia shows nothing. Sub-forum search for Stinger shows nothing. There's also nothing remotely stated about this car in any thread titles in this sub-forum going back over a month. So how about you back off on your criticism?

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

^agreed - main concern would be the "feel". Steering, shifting, etc. Especially given how poor the Genesis is in this area.



What does the Toyota concept have to do with anything? That car is going to compete with the Corvette - irrelevant to the Twins. And multiple threads on this car? Forum search for Kia shows nothing. Sub-forum search for Stinger shows nothing. There's also nothing remotely stated about this car in any thread titles in this sub-forum going back over a month. So how about you back off on your criticism?

I'll leave this here as just one example:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53854

As for the Toyota it's relevant in the sense that there has been countless posts about the very same thing...

Sorry if I ruined your day

[Frost]

From the way this thing is sized and powered, it really feels more of a competitor against the Genesis Coupe / Mustang / Camaro than the twins.

So far the only real apples-to-apples competition is the MX5, second hand Solstices and the supercharged variant. Everything else compensates the feel and fun with POWAH and size.

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by Frost

From the way this thing is sized and powered, it really feels more of a competitor against the Genesis Coupe / Mustang / Camaro than the twins.

So far the only real apples-to-apples competition is the MX5, second hand Solstices and the supercharged variant. Everything else compensates the feel and fun with POWAH and size.

This.

I expect it to be more competition for the genesis coupe. Still I nice looking overall car so far.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Frost

From the way this thing is sized and powered, it really feels more of a competitor against the Genesis Coupe / Mustang / Camaro than the twins.

So far the only real apples-to-apples competition is the MX5, second hand Solstices and the supercharged variant. Everything else compensates the feel and fun with POWAH and size.

This car is within 2" of the Twin's length and wheelbase, and the curb weight (of the concept) is within 100 lbs.

Whereas the GenCoupe/Mustang/Camaro are all 15"+ longer in length, 10+" longer in wheelbase, and all weigh at least 600 lbs. more than the Twins.

I'd say on paper, this Kia is shaping up to be more like the Twins (+ power).

[raven1231]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

This car is within 2" of the Twin's length and wheelbase, and the curb weight (of the concept) is within 100 lbs.

Whereas the GenCoupe/Mustang/Camaro are all 15"+ longer in length, 10+" longer in wheelbase, and all weigh at least 600 lbs. more than the Twins.

I'd say on paper, this Kia is shaping up to be more like the Twins (+ power).

I just hope it stays at this weight.

[Meehow86]

Originally Posted by Frost

From the way this thing is sized and powered, it really feels more of a competitor against the Genesis Coupe / Mustang / Camaro than the twins.

So far the only real apples-to-apples competition is the MX5, second hand Solstices and the supercharged variant. Everything else compensates the feel and fun with POWAH and size.

Except this is almost the same size as the twins.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

This car is within 2" of the Twin's length and wheelbase, and the curb weight (of the concept) is within 100 lbs.

Whereas the GenCoupe/Mustang/Camaro are all 15"+ longer in length, 10+" longer in wheelbase, and all weigh at least 600 lbs. more than the Twins.

I'd say on paper, this Kia is shaping up to be more like the Twins (+ power).

Well, we'll see if they can actually pull it off in real life.

From an engineering aspect you have the following problems with a small car: weight + chassis.

Obviously the two are tied to each other. If they try to keep weight low, it will be in the realm of exotic materials which means price goes up which means no longer twins competition purely on $$$. If they try to keep the chassis awesome they will have less money for the engine. They can slap in a Genesis Turbo engine (a good chunk of Kia is owned by Hyundai after all) but then that may cannabilize Genesis sales.

It may very well wind up like the Hyundai Veloster Turbo - slap on a powerful engine on a chassis that can't handle it.

We'll see - all this is hypothetical and I really do want more competition for the twins.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Frost

Well, we'll see if they can actually pull it off in real life.

From an engineering aspect you have the following problems with a small car: weight + chassis.

Obviously the two are tied to each other. If they try to keep weight low, it will be in the realm of exotic materials which means price goes up which means no longer twins competition purely on $$$. If they try to keep the chassis awesome they will have less money for the engine. They can slap in a Genesis Turbo engine (a good chunk of Kia is owned by Hyundai after all) but then that may cannabilize Genesis sales.

It may very well wind up like the Hyundai Veloster Turbo - slap on a powerful engine on a chassis that can't handle it.

We'll see - all this is hypothetical and I really do want more competition for the twins.

Yeah if they manage to keep the weight down, I'm fully expecting (even with typical Kia competitive pricing) that this car will cost $30-35k. And it will be a bargain at that price if it drives similarly to the Twins.

This is the first new car I've really been excited about, as it's cheap enough to track without much guilt. If this car hits the market, I may trade in the FR-S for it in a few years unless Toyota/Subaru respond to the competition.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

Yeah if they manage to keep the weight down, I'm fully expecting (even with typical Kia competitive pricing) that this car will cost $30-35k. And it will be a bargain at that price if it drives similarly to the Twins.

This is the first new car I've really been excited about, as it's cheap enough to track without much guilt. If this car hits the market, I may trade in the FR-S for it in a few years unless Toyota/Subaru respond to the competition.

Had to do a double take on your pricing and your location. USD I see!

I would think it would cost $33-36k if they keep weight + power as per concept. This thing would be a monster car and may re-ignite the car wars again.

That's the thing with technology (yes, I consider cars part of that) - you can always keep waiting.