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The Kia Stinger is one of those cars right now that is gaining a lot of attention. With its all-new, cutting-edge look, Kia's four-door coupe thing is making moves without issuing any apologies.

To be honest, we kind of like it for that reason. It's challenging the establishment. Here at AutoSpies, the Agents have a kinship with anything taking on the bigger guy and fighting with verve.

That said, while initial impressions of the Stinger have been pretty positive, it's important to know how it stacks up against its immediate competitors. 

So, the boys and girls at Autocar did just that. It set up a test between the all-new Stinger, BMW 440i and Jaguar XE. Back in the day the Kia would have just been chopped liver; however, you can see there's a bit of a back and forth in this written review. 

All you need to know is in these last couple of paragraphs, which I've pulled from the copy:


A grand tourer worthy of its title
 
Having driven the car home from Barcelona, we can say that with confidence. Where the Kia’s weight, width and more relaxed settings for the suspension tune and steering response disadvantage it against the BMW on British B-roads, they make for an effortlessly long-legged cruiser with a reassuring sense of heft at speed. The cabin architecture also allows you to position yourself satisfyingly low in the comfy, heavily bolstered seats, but not in such a way that you have to relinquish an excellent view of the road ahead. It left us rested enough to engage Sport+ and let the Stinger loose on the snaking, leaf- strewn forest roads of the medieval Auvergne region after a 420-mile day...

...Small frustrations do exist. The adaptive cruise control is aggressively calibrated and can abruptly haul you down to 50mph as you’re preparing to sweep around an HGV. The twin-turbo engine is also thirsty if you’re in a hurry – we managed economy only in the mid-20s on the French autoroutes which, given the 60-litre tank, equates to a modest touring range of around 340 miles. The Stinger is otherwise as good a grand tourer as any in this category and better than most.
 
 

What do you make of this, Spies?

 



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CAR WARS! Can The All-new Kia Stinger Out Drive The Likes Of Incumbents From BMW And Jaguar?

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