Page 14 - Beep Beep August 2023

BEHIND THE WHEEL This month our intrepid ‘driver’ Noel St John-Wood is with
Jack Connolly and his Kia S3nger GT
After leaving behind a difficult time in Jack’s life a couple of years ago he
decided to treat himself a big ‘Birthday Present’ in the form of a brand new Kia Stinger GT.
With insider advantage Jack ended up with the very first Stinger registered in Queensland with this configuration. It’s obvious the car is like a baby to Jack and he enjoys all the performance, handling and safety features that his little baby offers.
The Stinger GT model has the low level autonomous – or self-driving – feature. Knowing that your car is handling some of the driving for you, is an incredible and welcome feature.
I was eager to get behind the wheel of this same model used by the Police as a pursuit vehicle... ... ...
Switching between handling modes has instant reaction from suspension and engine components to the seat-hugging feature which is very cool.
Acceleration from a flat pedal has the usual turbo lag but that’s soon left far behind when the twin turbos boost the 3.3 ltr V6 to a 368 hp projectile with considerable torque over a wide rpm range.
The Stinger has a full list of trick components and nifty gadgets that keep on impressing – the Kia/Hyundai manufacturer has come a long way in producing quality cars backed with a jaw dropping 7-year warranty – this won Jack over! And the Boot capacity!
Jack still has feelings for his Sporty 1968 Alpha Romeo GTV in his garage but the new Stinger seems to be the drive of choice for a while yet – a bit like an extended honeymoon!
Cheers Noel SJW
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Photos : Noel
St John-Wood