If someone told you ten years ago that Kia would be building twin-turbo all/rear-wheel drive sports sedans, you'd assume that they were absolutely bonkers, and carry on with your day.
Fast forward to the present day, the Stinger GT is a real thing, and the Korean brand has gone over-and-above and decided to build a "Track Monster" version that is called the 'Stinger GT420'.
Before you make any incorrect assumptions about the car's name, the GT420 part is in reference to the car's peak horsepower figure, which is 422 or 314kW. As well as the power increase, the twin-turbo 3.3-litre V6' torque has bee lifted from 510Nm to 560Nm.
While it may seem like a strange time to 'debut' a 2017 Stinger GT race car, there's actually an interesting story behind this example.
This particular car was a pre-production model that served as a press car for numerous UK magazines and TV shows such as Top Gear and The Grand Tour. When it had finished its run with the media, it was destined to be destroyed in the crusher, but Kia decided to give it a new lease on life.
While it has only been on the road for a few months, the Stinger GT S had clocked up just over 16,000 kilometers, so it wasn't exactly a new car anymore.
Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre in Germany helped the team with the build, and installed an extensive list of modifications. The V6 got new spark plugs, a new air filter, and a high-performance Milltek exhaust system.
The transmission's four-row cooler was replaced with an enhanced six-row item to help with cooling on the track, and the software was updated to allow for faster shifts.
You'll notice that only a few pieces of the factory interior remain, as most of it was removed to save weight. Even after installing a roll cage and racing seat, the car had shed over 150kgs off its factory weight.
To help it stick to the track, wider OZ Racing wheels were installed with a set of sticky Pirelli Trofeo R tyres wrapped around them.
While Kia may have built this "Track Monster" in their factory, we're not expecting to see any other GT420 models hit a Kia showroom in the foreseeable future.
