Kia Stinger 330Si: Performance Car of the Year 2018 10th Place

LAST PLACE sounds like a fail, doesn’t it?

But don’t be misled by the arithmetic here: not only is the Stinger the first Kia ever to grace PCOTY, it did so by offering one hell of a performance package at a super-competitive price. In fact, had this been Bang For Your Bucks, there’s a fair suspicion that the Kia would have been considerably higher up the ladder.

Nevertheless, it sizzles. And when you get to a corner, it doesn’t fall in a heap, either.

Okay, right at the limit, it starts to get a bit sketchy, but that long wheelbase is its saviour. And, true, the steering doesn’t telegraph much in the way of useful information and feels over-assisted. But the truth is that you can really scurry along in most situations and, as a big rear-driver in a world where that sort of thing seems on the nose, the Stinger is a real breath of fresh air.

Our main complaint would be with the transmission. Eight gears is fine by us, by why is there no Sport mode for the tranny? And why is there no way to lock it into a manual state of mind for more than a few seconds (via the paddles)? Feels like an oversight.

Maybe the next model will be an improvement. Even then, if you don’t want to drive your five-door family car like your pants are on fire (and there are plenty of us who would be nodding wisely about now) then the Stinger 330 Si starts making an awful lot of sense. And there’s no need to wait – that optional bi-modal exhaust will be a dealership retro-fit.

0-100km/h: 4.82sec (8th) 0-400m: 13.01sec @ 176.63km/h (8th)

Morley – 6th A Kia at PCOTY? About time. And the Stinger made a good fist of this.

Campbell – =8th Good grunt, nice interior, but the handling deteriorates beyond eight tenths.

Newman – 10th Great engine, but chassis feels unfinished. Potential exists to be excellent.

Robson – 10th It’s the Stinger’s first day at performance school, and it’s all at sea. Has potential.

Reynolds – 10th Ugly! Nice road ride, engine not bad, but horrible at speed

JUDGES’ SCOREBOARD