The Kia Stinger is probably our favorite car to debut at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, and with good reason – it is a powerful, RWD 5-door coupe which shows that Kia is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with Audi and BMW. Most important, though – it looks great, with a squat stance afforded by its width and low height, as well as a swept-back proportions that make it look as though it’s going fast even when it’s standing still. And it’s exactly that last part, those unique proportions, that to my eyes owe a debt of gratitude to another great-looking car, and not coincidentally a part-rival which the Kia will undercut significantly on price, if not looks…
…Audi’s stylish A7. I know that sometimes I could be accused of trying too hard to draw parallels between cars, but in this case I feel the similarity is pretty obvious: the swooping roofline of the Stinger mimics the A7’s pretty perfectly, as does the stubby tail with its short deck, vertical cutoff, the lights positioned high and to the outside, and even the way the rear bumper insert mimics a diffuser. Luckily, as you move forwards the Stinger looks pretty different from the A7, from its trademark Kia window line, through its distinctly RWD gap between the front doors and the front wheel well (the “premium gap”), all the way to its aggressive front that employ’s Kia’s “tiger grille”.
