The Kia GT4 Stinger Concept – Did we overlooked its unveiling at the Detroit Motor Show recently?

With the Tokyo Auto Salon and Detroit Motor Show happening at almost the period of time, it was one of the rare moments where we were almost overflowed with delicious new vehicles that catches our attention. And in a word – Yes.. we overlooked at the Korean company’s latest unveiling of a sports coupé, the GT4 Stinger Concept. In fact, this new little sports coupé is more promising than it sounds.

Despite the strong involvement in technology and continuous improvements from the car companies, Korean cars are almost always your 2nd last or last choice. As we step into the year 2014, we are glad to say that Korean cars have come a long way from when they started many moons ago. So with the unveiling of the latest concept vehicle from Kia, it shows how they have moved steps ahead and into the rivalry pits with brands like Toyota.. because word out is that, the GT4 Stinger Concept is set to go head-to-head with the Toyota GT86 and the upcoming Mazda MX-5!

Sounds ambitious but we at Zerotohundred.com are really enthralled by their bold new concept. At first glance, the GT4 Stinger certainly deserve a place in the styling department with its outrageous design and brave outlook. This thing is no ‘minger’ at all as it seems to have borrowed many styling bits from the Europeans (no surprise here!) and a roof line almost similar to the Nissan GTR. And from the back, it has borrowed some styling cues from the up and coming Audi Quattro concept. I know right?

What we are most interested in as always is the performance and drivetrain configuration of the GT4 Stinger. Because it was designed to tackle the likes of the fun and slidey GT86, this too has a similar ‘front engined, rear wheel drive’ configuration that will certainly raise the attention of avid drivers everywhere. Such benchmark can be very difficult to follow but if it all falls right for Kia, we can expect to see this concept come to life not too far in the near future, tentatively.. as soon as 2016.

If built, the GT4 Stinger Concept can expect a sweet revving 2.0-litre turbocharged 4 pot with a claimed output of around 300+bhp. Can we expect this though? Perhaps not but it won’t be too far off the charts and will be similarly priced with the Toyota GT86. Don’t expect the menacing looks to be altered much either as the designer, Tom Kearns said – “it’s a total concept, but when we do these cars we have in the back of our minds that if we decide to make it, we don’t have to change it too much.”

It’ll be interesting to see the GT4 Stinger Concept come to life but until it actually makes it to production, it is still important to change the mindset of the Korean cars that is strongly pushing through with the market. All we ask for is if this comes to life – we hope Kia doesn’t change the name. GT4 Stinger. Sounds like a car a secret agent would drive.