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Kia U.K. builds a 420-horsepower Stinger GT track car

The Kia Stinger GT is an admirable sports sedan, er, hatchback, with 365 horsepower. But Kia's U.K. branch wanted more, leading to the 420-horsepower Singer GT420 you see here. As Kia explains, the car used to create this one-off track car is actually the first Stinger GT pre-production test car in the U.K. It was used for final testing, photography, and was even featured on Top Gear and The Grand Tour. Once its testing and publicity duties were over, though, it was slated to be crushed. But some delaying and the idea of building a track car saved it. To get it to its final output ratings of 420 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, Kia (with help from Hyundai Motor Group's technical team in Germany) added a high-flow air filter, aftermarket exhaust without catalytic converters, an upgraded transmission cooler, and an engine tune. The car also benefits from weight reduction: The whole car was gutted, taking out everything unnecessary for speed such as the sound system, rear seats, carpeting, bumper supports and more. Even with the addition of a roll cage and extra chassis braces, the car is just over 330 pounds lighter than stock. Handling and stopping capabilities were also enhanced with stiffer springs and thicker anti-roll bars, along with six-piston brake calipers and brake cooling ducts up front. The car also gets visual changes in the form of a front splitter and rear spoiler and diffuser, plus the bold vinyl wrap. Naturally, this isn't a production car, especially with the gutted interior and emissions non-compliant exhaust. But looking at the list of modifications, it wouldn't be hard to replicate the Stinger GT420 on your own. In fact, someone could probably exceed the car's performance, since there are some areas ripe for upgrading Kia skipped over, such as upgrading the turbochargers. Your move, tuners.

Hyundai phone app adjusts EV performance settings

The latest automotive tech frontier is phone control. A few car companies have launched or are about to launch the ability to use your phone as your key, such as with the Tesla Model 3 and the just revealed 2020 Lincoln Corsair. Aside from being convenient, the technology offers the ability to save settings for different users. The latest application of the technology comes from Hyundai and Kia for electric cars, specifically letting users set performance parameters and bring them from car to car. The app allows the user to adjust several performance settings including amount of torque available, speed limits, throttle response, regenerative braking response, climate control energy use and acceleration aggressiveness. Basically, you can decide whether you want all-out speed, long-range, or a blend of the two. The more detailed settings are also nice compared to choosing between three or four pre-set blends of performance like on many cars. And of course parents would surely like the ability to limit speed and power for new drivers. What's perhaps more interesting are the ways settings can be brought along and shared. Hyundai suggests that when using a car-sharing program, drivers could have their settings uploaded to whatever car is being used so that you don't have to readjust things each time. People could also share their preferred combinations for others to use, possibly offering people less compromised combinations than they otherwise would have come up with. Hyundai could also offer recommended settings or tweaks to combinations to optimize efficiency or performance in certain conditions. It's all interesting stuff, especially for control freaks and tinkerers, and we'll see it in the near future. Hyundai and Kia say it will show up in future vehicles, though an exact date wasn't given.

Driver unaware SUV is in flames going down the highway

NBC Nightly News recently carried the above segment on a video showing a 2012 Kia Sorento spewing flames as its driver travels at highway speed on Interstate 4 in Orlando. Another motorist, Meredith Olinger, drives alongside, shooting the video while trying to warn the driver to pull over. She does, just in time. Seconds later, the Kia is cooked. The driver, Susan King, says, "I got out, and suddenly the car was engulfed in flames. (Olinger) saved my life. I'm incredibly grateful, and she was my angel that day. It was surreal." NBC did a nice job of using the video to highlight a serious issue. The SUV's owner was not King but her friend Tyla Kennedy, and though the Kia was part of a recall of 2012-14 Sorentos having to do with an engine defect, Kennedy says she never received a recall notice. That's because she was not the car's original owner. And as anyone who has received a recall notice for a long-sold car knows, automakers send the notices to original owners. Subsequent owners are out of luck. We could argue all day about whether automakers, sellers or subsequent owners should do more to ensure that automakers know the current whereabouts of their products, but luckily there's an easy way past all of that. If you own a car you bought second-hand, go to safercar.gov and enter your VIN. If there is a recall on your vehicle, it will show up there. If one pops up, contact a dealership and the repair will be carried out free of charge. Even if you bought your vehicle new, doing this check couldn't hurt, just in case your notice got lost in the mail. It could keep you from discovering, as you fly down the highway, that you are driving a fireball. Related Video: Image Credit: Meredith Olinger Auto News Recalls Kia Crossover SUV Videos