Kia EV6 GT Review: Is It Really A Fitting Stinger GT Successor?

It doesn’t seem that long ago we were all raising our eyebrows at the prospect of Kia launching a rear-wheel drive, twin-turbo V6 powered saloon at a price that, while reasonable, was considered a good chunk of change for something from the Korean brand. And yet, fast forward a mere few years, and the Stinger GT is already dead.

Its relatively hastened demise and the general outlook for large-engined performance cars means I now look at the Stinger very differently compared to when I first drove one. Back then, I was a little lukewarm about it. The Stinger GT was surprisingly soft, and its engine note not exactly thrilling. I drove one again when its days seemed numbered and warmed to it massively, and now it’s gone from the line-up, I can’t help but feel sad.

We shouldn’t be surprised Kia ditched it. The Stinger never set the sales charts alight, and it seems the final nail in the coffin was the arrival of the car Kia says serves as its replacement as the brand’s new flagship: the EV6 GT.

Yep, a 577bhp EV is the indirect successor to the Stinger GT. I now feel bad about moaning about that underwhelming V6, given that this thing has no combustion engine at all. It does, however, dwarf the Stinger not just in terms of its power output, but also performance, despite the fact it’s a lot heavier at around 2,100kg. 0-62mph comes up in just 3.5 seconds, a full 1.2 seconds faster than the Stinger.

As we see with most EVs, there is a slight delay between putting your foot down and anything happening, which is probably best when there’s 546lb ft of torque waiting to be delivered in an instant. That pause is shortened slightly in the GT mode, which also ramps up the damping to the point where it’s excessively, comically firm. I rarely used it for more than a few seconds before switching to a different mode.

GT mode is accessed by a big button on the right of the steering wheel, with a corresponding button to the left to cycle through all modes - a setup similar to what’s found in the the Hyundai i30 N, another dead performance car culled way too soon, if you’ll forgive me for dampening the mood once more. There’s a custom mode, so it’s possible to pull my favourite trick of modern fast cars - turning up every aspect of the car apart from the adaptive dampers.

Set thusly, the EV6 GT offers an intriguing driving experience. It mixes rabid pace with a chassis that can’t quite keep up - you can get it to oversteer (the rear motor is more powerful than the front), but generally, it’ll understeer first, only bringing the rear around with aggressive throttle inputs mid-corner.

What it can do very well is wheelspin from a standstill, chucking out masses of tyre smoke from its Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres if you ditch the traction control. The steering meanwhile is lifeless but well weighted, at least.

All that power comes at a cost of efficiency - even on a long run with the cruise control set below 70mph to maximise range, 2.6 miles per kWh was the best we could manage, equating to a range of not much more than 200 miles despite the presence of a reasonably large 77.4kWh battery pack. Drive less sympathetically, and you’ll be doing more like two miles per kWh.

Admittedly, it wasn’t hugely warm when we drove the EV6 GT, but still, it’s not a car we expect to be massively efficient when it’s less chilly. When you are out of juice, 150kW charging capability makes a 10 -  80 per cent top-up possible in 18 minutes.

Like the related Hyundai Ioniq 5, a bespoke electric platform not constrained by the packaging needs of an engine, gearbox and exhaust system makes for a spacious interior. There are some nice touches in here, too, including an interesting textured section on the passenger side of the dashboard.

It feels special enough for a car costing £61,895, but some more comfortable seats wouldn’t go amiss - the front chairs are firm considering this is pitched as a grand tourer, not just in the car’s name, but also the press and marketing materials. Pure driving thrills are left to the Ioniq 5 N in the Hyundai Group stable.

All this leaves the EV6 GT in a bit of a no-man’s land. It’s not really a car for a keen driver, nor one that’s great for crushing long distances owing to the firm seats, at times harsh ride and the reality of long-distance driving with the constraints of modern battery tech and the UK’s charging network.

The Stinger GT was a hard car to pigeonhole too, but it was more charming than the EV6 GT. Being powered by electricity and not a load of unleaded being squirted into a V6 makes that an unfair contest, of course, and while it’s difficult to heartily recommend the EV6 GT over a less powerful, less expensive version of the EV6, it’s good to see that it does have a bit of a wild side.

And so, while it’s a very different proposition to the old Stinger, the EV6 GT’s fast, flawed and at times wild nature means it goes some way to fill the void.