Kia Stinger leaked:: Sexy RWD sedan emerges

Designed and engineered in Germany, the Stinger redefines Kia’s brand and will serve as its new passenger flagship. It partially brings to fruition a promise made years away with the original two-door GT Stinger concept from 2014.

The Stinger sports classic RWD proportions, with a short front overhang. The brand-signature ‘Tiger’ grille has been sharpened, and sits above a diffuser with distinctive fins, and is beset by angry headlights with LEDs.

UPDATE: it's now official, get all the details here.

Beyond this is a long, sculpted bonnet with twin vents, leading into a coupe-style sportback roof. The doors sport strong shoulder lines, leading to a long rear overhang with strong shoulders and a distinctive light treatment and rear diffuser.

There’s more than a subtle nod to Mercedes-Benz in the cabin. There's a floating tablet screen sitting above a series of infotainment and climate/ventilation controls. There’s heavy use of real leather trims and metal, too.

A colour TFT screen between the analogue gauges relays performance data such as cornering G-forces, lap times and engine-oil temperature, along with ancillary information such as the trip computer, driver settings, navigation and diagnostics.

At 4831mm long, the Stinger is 160mm shorter than a Holden Commodore, though it’s almost as wide.

Two longitudinal engines will be offered in the Stinger. The range kicks off with a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol producing around 190kW at 6200rpm and 353Nm between 1400 and 4000rpm. The flagship car will get a 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 from the Lambda family (shared with Genesis) punching out an estimated 272kW at 6000rpm and 510Nm between 1300 and 4500rpm.

Kia is targeting a 0-100km/h sprint for the flagship Stinger of 5.1 seconds, on the way to a 269km/h top speed.

Matched to both is an (in-house) eight-speed automatic with a torque converter as premiered on the K900 luxury sedan, channeling torque to the rear wheels. The Stinger’s RWD system on the 3.3 also gets a mechanical limited-slip diff. AWD will be offered in snowy countries, in LHD-only guise.

Development of the Stinger’s dynamics was centred at the Nurburgring, led by former BMW M Division executive Albert Biermann.

The suspension is a MacPherson strut arrangement at the front and a multi-link independent rear. The Stinger is also the first Kia with adjustable dampers. This same set of driving modes also adjust the resistance programmed into the electric-assisted power steering.

Australian details are not confirmed yet, though we understand it'll arrive in the third quarter of the year. We're finding out more details in Detroit at the launch tonight, so stay posted!

UPDATE: it's now official, get all the details here.