Motor1 - 2019 Kia K900 First Drive: Stealth Wealth

[YEH]

2019 Kia K900 First Drive: Stealth Wealth

But it’s on the road where the K900 shined and surprised. Sure, Kia kept saying the K900 was like a fancy Stinger, but we weren’t ready to believe them until we traded Napa’s high traffic Silverado Trail for the twisty bits of California’s Highway 29, as we climbed over Mount Saint Helena and headed towards Clear Lake. All four corners get a multi-link suspension and electronic dampers.They work with the K900’s additional lateral chassis bracing to deliver a front end that you can nonsensically lean on until the Michelin Primacys start crying for mercy and a rear that’s sturdy and friendly, which is nice when dealing with the light switch throttle response in sporty conditions.

Once you come to grips with the idea of corner carving with 4,600 pounds of Kia beneath you, the K900’s ability to shift power around is addicting and entertaining. More addicting is the twin-turbocharged engine’s ability to fling the big Kia out of corners, although exploit this willingness too often and the main problems with the K900’s dynamics rears its ugly head.

Was not expecting it, but from the sounds of this review, the K900 may be a sportier drive than either the G80 or G90.

Biermann's team had a hand in the tuning, so maybe they got to do more to it than say, the G80 Sport.

 

[Spanky61]

Not convinced actually. It's not a fancy Stinger, by a long shot. I drove the Stinger and compared it to our Genesis G80 Ultimate 5.0 and the Stinger was considerably more nimble all the way around. I don't care what you do to a 4600 LB auto, you aren't going to get it to handle like a sports car. With the addition of the 3.3T tuning, it's not going to like the power output especially in city driving.

K900, well I think I might have come up with a different name for their Kia flagship. Sounds like the name of a truck!

 

[PMCErnie]

Kia might have better set their course to launch a luxury SUV. Now that would sell!

 

[Spanky61]

Tend to agree with you PMCErnie.

 

[YEH]

Not convinced actually. It's not a fancy Stinger, by a long shot. I drove the Stinger and compared it to our Genesis G80 Ultimate 5.0 and the Stinger was considerably more nimble all the way around. I don't care what you do to a 4600 LB auto, you aren't going to get it to handle like a sports car. With the addition of the 3.3T tuning, it's not going to like the power output especially in city driving.

K900, well I think I might have come up with a different name for their Kia flagship. Sounds like the name of a truck!

Not saying it's a fancier/larger Stinger, but reviews seem to indicate that there's a bit more sport to the K900 than the G90 and maybe even the G80 Sport.

In his full review, AoA seems disappointed that the K900 doesn't come equipped w/ more performance oriented rubber.

Kia might have better set their course to launch a luxury SUV. Now that would sell!

The K900 has done very well for them in Korea.

They are supposedly seriously considering a lux CUV (or 2), but will have to wait until the GV80 and GV70 to get their hands on the platform(s).

Btw, congrats on your wife's new SF!

It's pretty nice interior-wise for a mainstream branded CUV and the interior of the Palisade should be even nicer (same goes for the Telluride and the next Sorento).

Which goes back to the whole thing of not leaving much room for lux variants on those platforms.