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2018 Kia Stinger GT Drivers' Notes Review | Punching above its weight

The 2018 Kia Stinger GT is a breath of fresh air in the Korean automaker's lineup. After years of building cheap and mostly forgettable appliances, Kia (and Hyundai) finally started to build truly solid products that no longer needed to be marketed as just a value proposition. Once the company finally got reliability, build quality and styling down, it really needed to focus on performance if it had any plans to be a fully-rounded automaker. Hyundai is doing very much the same thing with cars like the new Veloster N. On paper, we should be comparing the Stinger GT to cars like the Dodge Charger. Size, pricing and power are all about the same, but that's not really where we're at. Kia is talking more about cars like the Audi A5, BMW 3 Series and other luxury sedans — and that's how we're seeing it too. It shows just where Kia is aiming with this car. The car we have this week is the base GT, the lowest-spec model available with the 365 horsepower twin-turbo V6. This is the same engine that's available in the Genesis G80 Sport. While the GT1 trim doesn't get things like a moonroof or a 720-watt stereo system, it's still pretty well-equipped. You get heated leather seats, power front seats, a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry and dual-zone climate control. Performance upgrades include Brembo brakes and 19-inch wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires (our car was wearing all-seasons thanks to old man winter). Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale: Ever since I attended the Stinger's debut in Detroit last year, I've been eager to drive one. On paper, it sounds bang on. It has aggressive, muscular styling inside and out, is only available in rear- or all-wheel-drive, and has a pair of potent turbo engines, either a 255-horsepower four-cylinder or a 365-horsepower V6. Finally, this past week, I had the chance to drive a rear-drive GT with the twin-turbo V6, and it absolutely lived up to expectations. One of the first things that delighted me was the steering and handling. The helm is very quick and accurate, and the chassis feels light, communicative, and easy to manage. This was particularly helpful since, although I drove it on the one warm day in Detroit this winter, it was still wet and slippery outside. The engine is a charmer, too.

Is your new-car warranty good at the race track?

We've all heard the horror stories. Your buddy knows a girl that was dating a guy whose best friend's brother once broke his brand-new, recently purchased performance car while making runs at a drag strip or laps at a track day, and the manufacturer wouldn't cover the repair under warranty. True story? Urban legend? Complete crap? Yes, no, maybe. One thing's for sure: Automotive warranties have always come with caveats. In 1908, an ad in the Trenton Evening Times clearly stated: "All Ford Cars Guaranteed for One Year." Although it changed over time, by 1925 the Ford New Car Guarantee only covered 90 days on material and 30 days on labor, and it clearly stated that that there was "No guarantee whatever on Fan Belts, Glass, Bulbs, Wiring, Transmission, Bands, Hose Connections, Commutator Shells, Rollers, Spark Plugs or Gaskets." Whether or not Ol' Henry would pay to fix your Model T if you broke it shaving a tenth off your lap time at the local board track seems to be lost to history. We're guessing no. But what about today? Do new-car warranties in 2017 cover cars when they are driven on race tracks? We researched the warranties of 14 auto brands to find out, and the answer is yes, no, maybe, depending on the brand, in some cases the model, and whether or not your car is modified from stock. Acura has been out of the high-performance car game for a number of years, but jumps back into the party in 2017 with its hybrid-powered $173,000 NSX supercar. And Acura's warranty, as well as Honda's, clearly states that it does not cover "the use of the vehicle in competition or racing events." View 33 Photos So we asked Sage Marie, Senior Manager of Public Relations for Honda and Acura. "If the car is stock, the warranty covers it on a track just as it does on the street. No question," he told us. "However, if the car is modified, say with slick tires or other components that would put higher stresses on the vehicle's parts and systems, then we would have to investigate the circumstances further." Marie went on to say the same would be true for any Acura model or Honda vehicle, including the new 2017 Honda Civic Si. This became a common theme. Chevrolet actually started this practice with the fifth-generation Camaro on the high-performance ZL1 and Z/28 models.

Kia's brand perception still painfully lags behind reality

I can't tell you how many times I've been driving with friends or family in a decidedly nice Korean press car, only to have a passenger notice the logo on the steering wheel and exclaim, "Wait... this is a Kia?" For every time I roll my eyes at a story with a lede about how Hyundai "is really gaining momentum these days," I get equally annoyed when people comment on how Kia is finally starting to make decent cars. This is hardly news. The brand has been pumping out really solid stuff for a while now.
But as it turns out, not everyone knows that. According to Ward's Auto, speaking to Kia marketing chief Michael Sprague, the automaker recently placed third-to-last in a recent ALG Brand Perception of Quality study, only besting Suzuki and Smart. Wow.
Ward's notes that Kia recently earned a credible sixth place in J.D. Power & Associates' Initial Quality Study, and yet still fell way behind pretty much every other brand in the ALG study. The Korean automaker's cars have also won numerous awards in recent years, and have generally earned positive reviews from the media, Autoblog included.