Kia begins long Stinger tease

Kia appears to have commenced what will be a drawn-out teaser campaign for its hotly anticipated Stinger sports sedan, a leaked factory image of which also broke cover earlier this week.

The company has just released the first in a series of sneak-peeks ahead of a confirmed global reveal at 6:00pm EST on January 8 – the day before the 2017 Detroit motor show.

In this case it's a YouTube video of a car hot-lapping Germany's famed Nurburgring, overlaid with instruments that reveal a road speed of 244km/h, engine speed of 6500rpm and mileage of more than 13,000km.

Nowhere in the video does Kia name the vehicle in question, but the production version of the striking 2011 GT concept will make its world debut in Detroit next month and no production Kia has ever managed to hit 250km/h.

"The curve ahead is all about potential. The potential to clip every apex and consume every straight. To take on each twist and turn with agility, speed and progressive design," gushes Kia on its teaser mini-site, www.thecurveahead.net, where a faded teaser image can also be seen.

"With a new paradigm of performance on the horizon, Kia’s newest vehicle takes to the grueling Nürburgring to realize its full potential."

As we've reported, the 2017 Stinger – which is what we expect it will be called, although it could be called the Stinger GT or K8, with a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine opening the range – has already been confirmed for Australian release in the third quarter of next year, just before the end of local Holden Commodore production.

While the base model is expected to cost around $40,000, the Stinger will also be available with the Hyundai group's new 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 for about $50,000, both fitted with either an eight-speed automatic transmission or Kia's new seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

Likely to be based on the same new rear-drive platform as Hyundai's first rival for the BMW 3 Series – the upcoming Genesis G70 sedan – the production version is expected to deliver up to 290kW of power and 535Nm of torque.

That should not only propel the sleek sedan to 100km/h in less than six seconds, but provide a convenient starting point for what could become Kia's first entry in Australia's premier motorsport category.

Developed under the CK codename, the coupe-like Stinger sedan, which would be positioned above the Optima as Kia's flagship (and first) rear-drive passenger car, has been spotted undergoing testing and will undergo an extensive local tuning program before its Australian release around next September.