2022 Kia Stinger: More Power Standard and Bigger Screens Mean Serious Upgrades
The base four-cylinder grows by half a liter and gains 45 horsepower.
Thanks to a few overzealous dealers, we already know what the refreshed 2022 Kia Stinger will look like. But, naturally, the automaker felt the need to introduce it to us formally. Quick, everybody act surprised.
Those familiar with Kia's halo sedan will have already noticed the new Kia logos, new LED lights front and rear, new wheels, and the quad exhausts, but quite a bit has changed under the skin too. Instead of the outgoing Stinger's 2.0-liter, the base Stinger will now feature a 2.5-liter turbo-four good for 300 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque. That marks a 45-hp increase with no penalty in fuel economy, and it helps the car travel from zero to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds. The cream-of-the-crop GT, meanwhile, doesn't get a new engine but the twin-turbo V6 it does have has received an extremely mild power bump, now making 368 hp—exactly three more hp than before—bringing the four-door grand tourer to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds.
To be fair to Kia, as someone who recently got to drive the 2021 Stinger GT, more power was not on the list of things I felt like it needed so those three additional horses are actually more than enough.
Anywho, Kia has fitted the facelifted Stinger's cabin with some classier black and chrome trim, new stitching on the door cards, enhanced ambient lighting, and a new leather seat design. There's also a much bigger 10.25-inch touchscreen capable of running Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and connecting to multiple Bluetooth devices. A seven-inch display can now be had in the instrument cluster as well, and that's where the Blind Spot View Monitor lives, throwing up a live camera feed of your blind spot when a turn signal is on.
The automaker's most up-to-date suite of ADAS functions is standard, too, which is nice.
Come late spring, Kia will bring out a special "Scorpion model" of this car featuring exclusive black, white, and silver paint options, as well as a rear spoiler. This very... dangerous-sounding Stinger will also rock black fender garnishes, black mirror caps, darker exhaust tips, black wheels, and carbon fiber interior trim.
The Stinger is a thoroughly good car and I'm almost entirely sure these enhancements have only made it better. Buy one while you still can.
Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com
