The Kia Stinger is the kind of factor automobile fanatics lengthy for however automakers are often reluctant to construct for concern that there aren’t sufficient automobile fanatics.

It’s a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) or, optionally, an all-wheel-drive (AWD) sport sedan with critical efficiency chops and area for the youngsters. It’s a household automobile that may throw down. It’s a sensible commuter with an attractive secret. It’s Bruce Wayne as a automobile.

In case you’ll be able to’t inform, the KBB editorial staff loves it. Our professional reviewer Colin Ryan in contrast it to the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Collection Gran Coupe — vehicles with far increased value tags. He mentioned it “pushes the boundaries of what to anticipate from Kia.”

It didn’t final lengthy. Kia created it for the 2019 mannequin yr and, sadly, introduced its retirement simply 5 years later. There are nonetheless a couple of on supplier heaps — if a superb sport sedan with a 10-year guarantee and an reasonably priced value tempts you.

We feared that the quick lifetime of the Stinger meant Kia would by no means try one thing prefer it once more. A brand new report says we want not concern.

South Korean Press Studies Say an Inheritor Is Coming

A brand new report in South Korea’s ET Information says Kia will debut a non secular inheritor to the Stinger’s mystique. A translation of the article says it may “be launched in 2025 on the earliest.” Like most future Kia autos as of late, it’s electrical. For now, the venture known as GT1.

That title would possibly make all of it the way in which to manufacturing — automakers love alphanumeric names as a result of they work in each language. However we’ll be a little bit dissatisfied if it doesn’t get named for the sharp a part of a wasp.

All-Wheel Drive, 603+ Horsepower

The GT1 prototype, the report says, makes use of two motors (one on the entrance axle and one on the rear) for an AWD grip and an influence output of 450 kW — about 603 horsepower. That may exceed the output of even the Kia EV6 GT, the model’s present efficiency champ.

Is it actual? It’s fairly potential. It rides on the identical platform because the EV6 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 (Hyundai and Kia share some possession and plenty of automobile bones).

EV Engineering Might Make This Straightforward

One of many promising issues in regards to the transition to electrical vehicles is that it makes introducing new fashions simpler. A lot of right this moment’s electrical autos (EVs) trip on widespread platforms. So-called “skateboard platforms” are almost flat mixtures of batteries, motors, suspension, and steering parts. As soon as producers construct one, scaling it up or down and tweaking its efficiency lets them create new fashions simply from widespread components.

There’s no purpose Kia couldn’t take its current skateboard, inject it with wasp venom and the desires of Motor Pattern writers from the ‘70s, and promote it to oldsters who wish to get a ticket after dropping the youngsters at daycare.

That was the complete thought of the Stinger. It may not have enticed sufficient patrons to final a decade, however the electrical age may make chasing wild concepts cheaper for automakers. Let’s hope the GT1 is actual sufficient, sometime, to make auto writers and adventurous mother and father grin once more.