2018 Kia Stinger 2 0 front three quarter in motion 01

A lot of the performance advantage enjoyed by the Audi is down to its smooth, efficient, and lightning fast DSG transmission; the Stinger's Hyundai/Kia engineered eight-speed shifts slower, and its torque converter chews more power. The BMW's advantage is mass—the smaller 3 Series sedan weighs 112 pounds less—and the fact the guys in Munich still know a thing or two about making a car go around corners. But part of the issue is the Stinger's engine; although relatively quiet and refined, and with good mid-range punch, it doesn't quite have the crisp throttle response of the Germans, especially below 2,000 rpm.

Think about those last couple of paragraphs for a second, though: We've just been comparing a Kia with an Audi and a BMW. Of course anyone can play the numbers game on the track, and any comparison with Germany's elite would be meaningless if the Kia Stinger drove like a cheap and cheerful bucket of bolts on the road. The point is, it doesn't. That sound you hear is sharp intakes of breath in Ingolstadt and Munich.

The Stinger drives more like a European car than anything from Korea so far and most things from Japan. There's a measured, almost Germanic, weighting to all the controls and to the body motions. It doesn't have the grunt to indulge in smoky powerslides with all the nannies switched off—as you can in the rear-drive V-6s—but the chassis feels lively and entertaining, nonetheless. A little more initial bite from the brakes would be helpful to smoothly settle the car on corner entry, and a touch more front-end grip would complement the accurate steering, but otherwise the Stinger feels impressively consistent and composed through the twisty bits.

As dusk settled on the run back to L.A., it became obvious the standard headlights were better suited for cruising the bright lights of Seoul than the dark canyons of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Stinger easily outrunning even high beam. However, the $37,000 Stinger Premium is available with brighter LED headlights (and the extra money also buys you a sunroof, a power adjustable steering column, the 7.0-inch TFT screen in the instrument panel, the electronic e-brake, memory for the seat adjustment, sat-nav, and a 15-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, which makes it a solid value). And we prefer the snickety-snick action of the electronic PRNDL shifter on the top-level GT to the slightly clunky feel of the old school T-bar item on the rest of the lineup.

Yep, we're down to picking nits. For a first effort at a car like this, the four-cylinder Kia Stinger is genuinely impressive. And the more we drive it, the more it reminds us of a proto-BMW 3 Series. It's not yet fully formed and not yet fully mature, but it's a car that, should it follow a logical evolutionary path, could eventually occupy the same hallowed ground as the 3 Series once did among enthusiasts who wanted an affordable, sporty, rear-drive car they could drive every day.

And the chances of that happening? Well, as former BMW M engineering veep Albert Biermann is now Hyundai/Kia's head of high performance vehicle development, you'd be foolish to bet against it, especially given the Korean automaker's lavish R&D spending and the dizzying speed with which it brings new vehicles to market. Be afraid, BMW. Be very afraid.

2018 Kia Stinger (2.0 RWD)
BASE PRICE	$32,795 (est)
PRICE AS TESTED	$34,800 (est)
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front-engine, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan
ENGINE	2.0L/255-hp/260-lb-ft turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4
TRANSMISSION	8-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	3,649 lb (52/48%)
WHEELBASE	114.4 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	190.2 x 73.6 x 55.1 in
0-60 MPH	6.6 sec
QUARTER MILE	15.0 sec @ 95.2 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	126 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.85 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	26.8 sec @ 0.67 g (avg)

2018 Kia Stinger GT front side motion view