2018 Kia Stinger Pros and Cons

The 2018 Kia Stinger is an all-new model from the Korean brand and it’s really making waves.

Kia is trying to move upmarket and prove that it takes performance seriously — this new grand touring vehicle is a solid shot at premium German automakers and needs to be taken very seriously. Make sure to check out our full review of the new Stinger, but here is a quick overview of the pros and cons for this exciting new Kia.

2018 Kia Stinger Pros and Cons

Pros

Excellent Driving Dynamics: “Cars often get flustered and come undone when driven angrily, but if you push the Kia Stinger, it rewards you with an invitation to push it even harder. Driven normally, the Stinger is smooth, comfortable, effortless and luxurious with a decent turn of speed — that much was expected,” Jodi Lai, ‘s Editor in Chief, wrote in her review. “What wasn’t expected was how legitimately fun the Stinger was to go ham on. Maybe the novelty of doing tire-shredding drifts with a Kia is still too new, but the car was genuinely engaging and fun to drive, displaying a pure and tactile feeling that is increasingly rare these days.”

Bargain Pricing: The pricing for an entry-level 2018 Kia Stinger starts at $32,795 in the U.S., which includes destination. That gets you rear-wheel drive and the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. The most affordable V6 GT model starts at $39,895, which is not bad for a V6. Standard features haven’t been detailed yet, but this is a Kia, so we’re certain the base car will have a pretty generous list of standard kit. Find full pricing info here.

ALSO SEE: 2018 Kia Stinger Review

It’s an Attention Grabber: This is a stylish and aggressively styled yet classy car that gets a lot of looks wherever it goes. The grand tourer gives off crazy Maserati vibes from the rear end and people notice it. When we were driving it recently in Calif0rnia, people were doing double takes, trying to take photos of it, and asking us a ton of questions. Let’s see you do that with a BMW 4 Series, which just seems to fade into the background.

High-End Experience: Besides it looking like a high-end car from the outside, the interior is also decidedly upscale. “The interior is well crafted and almost every touch point feels high-end, with authentic materials and hand-stitching making the cabin feel comfortable and fancy. It’s not yet at Audi levels of opulence and swankiness, but it’s close,” Lai says. “Nothing rattles and there are no harsh vibrations that would betray how fast you’re traveling – this is what a well-built car is supposed to feel like.”

Cons

Non-Functional Hood Vents: Yes, they look cool, but it really bothers me when automakers put non-functional/fake vents and scoops on cars.

Only One Model in Canada: Canadians will only get the V6 model with AWD, meaning they won’t be able to buy a four-cylinder model or one with rear-wheel drive. The rear-drive GT (the GT moniker is reserved for V6 models) is arguably the most fun model. American customers get much more choice. It should be mentioned that a manual transmission is not being offered at all, which could be a downside to some purists, but the eight-speed auto is entirely sufficient.

Adaptive Cruise Control Could Be Smoother: It’s appreciated that the system works in stop-and-go traffic and that you can reactivate it after a prolonged stop with a button on the steering wheel instead of prodding the gas pedal. The system, however, is a bit jerky with its braking and acceleration, so it ends up feeling a bit unnatural and jarring.

$50K for a Kia? Although we think the pricing for the Kia Stinger is reasonable because you get a lot of value for the money, a fully loaded topline model maxes out at about $50K and some people might not be able to stomach paying that kind of money for a Kia. Some people also express concerns about buying a first-generation of a brand new car and prefer to wait for a refresh so the automaker can address any complaints and problems that pop up with early owners.