SPY PICS: Kia Stinger GT hits Aussie roads

Kia's twin-turbo rear-drive Stinger GT began stirring up a storm Down Under even before its world debut at the Detroit motor show in January, not least because it goes on sale here in September, just before Holden ends production of its last Aussie V8 Commodore.

Since then the large rear-drive Korean-made sedan made its Australian debut at the Kia-sponsored Australian open tennis tournament in Melbourne and has also been seen in official photos and even a video undergoing cold-weather testing in Sweden.

Now an eagle-eyed motoring.com.au reader has snapped the same Stinger GT that appeared at the tennis on public roads in an inner-west suburb of Sydney.

Kia Australia has confirmed the white GT pictured here is currently being driven by its CEO and president SH Cho, and will shortly begin a local chassis tuning program.

It is one of two 'P1' pre-production Stinger vehicles, the other being a red 2.0-litre turbo-petrol model, currently in Australia to undergo local steering and suspension development from this week.

As we've reported, the 272kW/510Nm 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6-powered Stinger GT, which is claimed to hit 100km/h in around five seconds and features variable suspension damping, will become Kia's new flagship sedan this year.

Europe's all-wheel drive and turbo-diesel versions of the Stinger won't be sold here, but the circa-$53,000 GT sports sedan will be joined by a 190kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder entry model likely to kick off proceedings at around $42,000.

Both versions of the European designed and developed Stinger will be offered standard with an eight-speed automatic transmissions here.

Images: Christian Hailes