2018 Kia Stinger GT at Lightning Lap 2018

From Car and Driver

Lap Time: 3:11.6

Class: LL2 | Base Price: $41,550 | As-Tested Price: $41,550
Power and Weight: 365 hp • 3922 lb • 10.7 lb/hp
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4 F: 225/40ZR-19 (93Y) R: 255/35ZR-19 (96Y)

If Europeans were as bothered by brake noise and dust as Americans are, the Kia Stinger wouldn’t have completed Lightning Lap this year. The first Stinger that Kia delivered to VIR was a GT fitted with the standard domestic-market brake pads tucked inside its Brembo calipers. After a few warm-up laps, we went for it, fully opening the throttle through Hog Pen and hitting more than 130 mph on the front straight. But when we stomped the brake pedal, very little happened. Well, that’s not exactly true. A big something happened. Without sufficient stopping power, the Stinger sailed into the grass outside Horse Shoe at 58 mph. We got the hint: This wasn’t the setup for track work. So we stopped lapping and started calling and emailing Kia. On the final day, its PR team delivered a Stinger GT fitted with European-spec pads, which, according to the company, you’ll be able to get at dealerships for about $700. They worked, hauling the Stinger down from 133.8 mph on the front straight.

But competent brake pads don’t turn the soft if powerful Stinger into a track car. With its brake problem solved, the Stinger stopped embarrassing itself but still posted the second- or third-slowest segment time everywhere except sector five, where it topped the BRZ and Accord and tied with the Camaro 2.0T 1LE. Still, after we set our baseline time, the Stinger’s laps deteriorated. Its phobia of deep braking points and fast turn-in isn’t a sign that it’s a bad car. But it’s certainly not a track machine.

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