We thought the Kia Stinger was on its last legs, but we were sorely mistaken. The Stinger is back for 2022 with a vengeance, and with it comes more power, three different trims, and a long list of standard features. Though it costs more money for the base model than in previous years, the Stinger wins against its rival the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in both price and base power. Here are some of the features you’ll be getting with your new Kia Stinger.

The Kia Stinger has plenty of power in base trim

All three of the Stinger’s trim choices start with “GT”, and use rear-wheel-drive as standard, with an option to go all-wheel-drive for $2,200. The base “GT-Line” starts at $36,090 and comes with a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four, delivering 300 horsepower via an 8-speed automatic transmission. The GT1 trim is next, starting at $43,690 with a 3.3-liter twin-turbocharged V6 making 368 horsepower. It’s the same powertrain in the GT2, which starts at $51,290. The Stinger starts at a modest price for a decent amount of horsepower, but it’s quite a hike to the next level. 

Kia filled the Stinger to the brim with features

The base Stinger offers many convenience features, including heated side mirrors, solar control glass, high beam assist, sound-absorbing front door windows. It has cosmetic details as well, like a black chrome front grille, chrome exhaust tips, and other various trim pieces. For $36,090 the base Stinger has a lot going for it, but the sweet spot is coming up next.

The GT1 trim has everything from the base, plus launch control, a limited-slip differential, electronically controlled suspension, and Brembo brakes. All of that is well worth the extra $7,000. If you opt for the all-wheel drive with your GT1, it comes with torque vectoring ability. The GT2 trim has all of that as well, but there’s also an optional “Scorpion Package” that includes a rear spoiler.

Safety abounds in the Kia Stinger

The base Stinger comes with all the safety features you’ll ever need. It has several assists, including blind-spot collision avoidance, safe exit, forward collision avoidance, lane keep assist and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance. It also has forward collision and driver attention warnings. Kia’s list of safety features goes on and on. The point is, if safety is your only concern, you needn’t look past the base GT-Line.

The Stinger trips over itself under stress

Reviews place the Stinger GT somewhere in the middle of its competition in terms of its performance. The Stinger gets off the line well and shifts smoothly, but when pushed into a corner it doesn’t have the same confidence as a BMW 3-Series, for example. This could probably be fixed by selecting its all-wheel-drive configuration. Nevertheless, numbers don’t lie. Car and Driver got the car to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds, and it’s limited to 167 mph top speed.

Which one should you get?

The Stinger has three excellent trims, each better than the last, and as a 4,000-pound luxury sedan, it performs better than some of its competition, in some aspects. Kia has done something courteous to the consumer though, in that, nearly all of its safety features are included with the base model. All the consumer has to decide is whether or not they want a fast Stinger, and if they don’t, then the base model is perfectly fine. If they want a little more speed, then the GT1 is the way to go. It’s still cheap enough to justify and comes with all the goodies.