The Kia Stinger is Business Insider's 2018 Car of the Year
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
- The Kia Stinger takes home the big trophy for 2018.
- It bested some serious competition, including the Tesla Model 3, the Lamborghini Huracán Performante, the Ferrari 812 Superfast, the Lincoln Navigator, and the Jaguar I-Pace.
- In all, the Kia Stinger beat out 14 other finalists.
- We concluded that it's the best car South Korea has ever produced - a triumph after many years of Kia working to establish itself in the US and other global markets.
The Kia Stinger is Business Insider's Car of the Year for 2018!
This is the fifth time we've presented the big trophy, and the Stinger joins illustrious company. Past winners were the Corvette Stingray in 2014, the Volvo XC90 in 2015, the Acura NSX in 2016, and the Porsche Panamera in 2017.
In the half-decade we've been giving out our Car of the Year award, there had never been a vehicle that established itself as an early front-runner only to maintain its perch all year. But as soon as Senior Correspondent Matt DeBord drove the Kia Stinger in the Bay Area at the beginning of 2018, he knew it was something special. On return to Business Insider's New York office from the West Coast, he could barely contain his enthusiasm.
Senior Reporter Ben Zhang got his crack on the East Coast a few months later and was also blown away.
Real competition certainly arrived. The Tesla Model 3 is stupendous, and it's hard to argue against the Aston Martin DB11 Volante, the Ferrari 812 Superfast, and the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. Zhang and DeBord passed many a weekend morning or afternoon at our suburban New Jersey test center debating the merits of various contenders. (This was also the first year when we had two all-electric vehicles in the running - the Jaguar I-Pace and the Model 3 - perhaps a sign of things to come.)
Read more: One of these 15 finalists will become Business Insider's 2018 Car of the Year.
Our methodology is based on a handful of simple questions.
- Is there a strong business case for the vehicle? We are a business website, after all.
- Did our reviewers agree that the vehicle should be included? We have to come to a consensus, even though we might disagree on some particulars.
- Was the vehicle objectively excellent? There has to be a wow factor of some sort.
- Did the vehicle stand out from the sea of competition, particularly when it comes to technology? A Car of the Year finalist has to be special, and we're also a technology website.
- Can we strongly recommend buying or leasing the car? We demand to know whether we'd buy the vehicle ourselves if we had the resources.
To be eligible, all models must be new or have been substantially updated within the past year.
The Kia Stinger is the best car South Korea has ever produced. Designed by Peter Schreyer, the sports sedan is intended to evoke the great European grand-touring cars of the past, such as the Lamborghini Miura or the Ferrari Daytona.
This means the Stinger has notably more panache and a unique sort of sleek prowess that's lacking in similar offerings from Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Lexus. Those brands produce wonderful, spirited four-doors, but they do so at a higher price tag than Kia, and in recent years their core vehicles have bulked up. They've opted for aggressive, while the Stinger goes for style.
In the end, the Stinger put its elegant nose in front and kept it there for an entire year. We sampled close to 70 vehicles in 2018, so this victory for Kia is particularly notable. The competition was intense. But the Kia Stinger was up for it. It's fair to say that we've admired our previous Car of the Year winners. But when it came to Stinger, we fell in love.
Photos by Hollis Johnson.
The Kia Stinger was the undisputed star of the 2017 auto-show circuit, so we were psyched to get our hands on the grand-touring-inspired sports sedan.
This is a stunning set of wheels. Kia's design chief, Peter Schreyer, intended it to evoke the great European grand-touring cars of the past. It's easily one our favorite sedans on the road today, looks-wise.
The Stinger is aggressive, elegant, stylish, and sleek. One of our test cars looked brilliant in "Hichroma Red."
Even at a distance, the Stinger has road presence. What a head-turner!
The fascia is bold without being burly or overbearing.
Yes, it's shocking to see a Kia badge on such a stunning car. We were routinely asked whether the car was really a Kia.
In keeping with a major trend, the Stinger is a fastback four-door with a smoothly sloping roofline and a hatch.
If you haven't noticed, the proportions on this car are masterful: balanced and suave, long and low.
Just look at how those forms flow!
Sure, we can complain about the plastic fake hood vents. But that's about all we can complain about.
Our top-of-the-line all-wheel-drive GT2 stickered at $52,000 — a steal for a car this good. The base model has a 2.0-liter, 255-horsepower four-cylinder engine and can be had for $32,000.
Some sharp-looking wheels, plus big discs and red Brembo calipers providing abundant stopping power. We drove two different trim levels of the Stinger: the all-wheel-drive GT2 and the rear-wheel-drive GT2.
Beautiful contrasting exterior details.
OK, the "Stinger" name is offbeat in a world of M's, AMGs, RSs, and numbers. But we welcomed it. It's cool when your car has an identity that can be spelled out!
Sleek front end, meet sleek rear end. Also, note the ferocious quad exhaust pipes.
The trunk affords 23 cubic feet of cargo space, which is on par with most compact crossover SUVs. Plenty of room for two people's luggage, for a long weekend.
In addition to the aforementioned twin-scroll turbo 2.0-liter, the Stinger has a glorious 3.3-liter twin-turbocharged V6.
It makes a tasty 365 horsepower with 376 pound-feet of yummy torque. We did our best to squeeze some turbo lag out of this sucker and failed.
Matt DeBord declared it his new favorite motor.
Let's slip inside the somewhat austere black interior (in our book, that's a good thing, though fans of German or Japanese luxury marques may be disappointed).
The leather-wrapped steering feels fantastic — not too thick, not too thin. The plastic at the center isn't quite up to snuff, but that's a minor issue.
The instrument cluster is actually refreshingly straightforward, and there's a head-up display providing core info.
The rear seats are comfy, though they aren't heated and cooled, as the fronts are on the top GT2 trim.
The motor's power is piped through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Sure, there are paddle shifters so you can go manual, but we found that it was best to just let the auto handle the duty. As an aside, the Stinger has the first joystick-style shifter that we've actually liked.
Check this out! Dedicated ports for 12-volt and USB charging, along with USB and Aux ports for media input. More automakers should provide this option.
The infotainment system, UVO, is responsive and simple to use. It covers all the bases and is managed through this touchscreen in the center of the dash.
Navigation helped Matt find his way around the Bay Area, from the city to Silicon Valley and even over to Fremont, while Bluetooth device pairing was a snap. Ben Zhang had no trouble dealing with New Jersey.
Our testers came with a Harman Kardon premium audio system and SiriusXM satellite radio, which sounded superb.
As with most modern infotainment systems, UVO adds a suite of apps.
In a world in which car companies are moving everything to touchscreens, the ergonomic brilliance of Kia's central console is a welcome throwback. Buttons and knobs can be better! Kia and its South Korean cousin Hyundai have achieved exactly the right balance with vehicle controls: Everything feels as if it's in exactly the right place.
The key fob for the Stinger is thoroughly cool. It's actually fun to lock and unlock the car.
Say hello to the 2018 Business Insider Car of the Year!
- Fresh photographs of Milky Way’s black hole Sgr A* reveal strong, twisted magnetic field similar to M87*
- 8 Lesser-known places to explore in Himachal Pradesh
- Markets end FY24 on buoyant note amid positive global cues
- SRM Contractors IPO allotment – How to check allotment, GMP, listing date and more
- Rupee falls 6 paise to settle at 83.39 against US dollar