Rumours debunked: Facelift Kia Stinger’s technical details revealed

Its release of the updated Stinger earlier this month having occurred without the release of any technical details, Kia has now divulged powertrain options of its refreshed rear-wheel-drive sports sedan ahead of sales commencing in South Korea during the third quarter.

Confirming but also debunking speculative reports, the Stinger, in North America and South Korea at least, swaps the 190kW/353Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, which continues as the new entry-level powerunit, for the new 2.5 T-GDI Smartstream turbo used in the K5, but upgraded from 210 kW to 224 kW with torque remaining unchanged at 422 Nm.

At the range’s sharp-end, the GT keeps the twin-turbocharged 3.3-litre V6, albeit with power rising from 272 kW to 274 kW thanks to a new ECU and revised exhaust system. Torque remains unchanged at 510 Nm with the same applying to the eight-speed automatic gearbox, which is also the sole transmission available. Despite the availability of all-wheel-drive on some models as a cost option, it would appear that the 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine has been shelved not only in Korea, but also in Europe.

According to The Korean Car Blog, the domestic market Stinger will be priced from 38.5-million won (R548 032) to 46.3-million won (R658 549) without options, but won’t be returning to South Africa where only 28 examples of the GT was sold between July and September 2018.

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