Upcoming liftback is the quickest Kia ever produced

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Kia has confirmed the upcoming Stinger liftback's 0-100km/h time this week during its debut at the Seoul motor show, and it's the quickest model the Korean manufacturer has ever produced. The flagship Stinger GT, powered by a 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine developing 272kW of power and 510Nm of torque, sprints from zero to 100km/h in just 4.9 seconds in rear-wheel drive form, the company has confirmed today. Figures for the all-wheel drive version that will be offered in markets like Europe are still to be released. While an impressive figure in itself, the Stinger's sprint time matches that of the locally-produced Commodore SS-V - which features a much larger 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated 'LS3' V8 producing 304kW of power and 570Nm of torque - while also beating the 5.2-second target set when the car was revealed.

Additionally, that puts the Korean liftback in the same league as German performance sedans like the all-wheel driven Mercedes-AMG C43 (4.7 seconds) and E43 (4.6 seconds). When it launches here later this year, the Stinger will be offered with both the twin-turbo V6 and the 2.0-litre turbo four-pot from the Optima GT sedan - the latter punching out around 190kW and 353Nm. All models bound for Australia will send drive to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission as standard. European buyers also have the choice of the 147kW/440Nm 2.2-litre turbo diesel from the Sorento SUV and Carnival MPV - but this isn't on the cards for Australia.

Numerous pre-production versions of the Stinger have been spied doing rounds in Sydney over the last couple of months, as the big sedan undergoes the final stages of local tuning. Interestingly, the Stinger shown in Seoul has also debuted the mysterious 'E' badge that surfaced in a trademark application just days ago. Speculation pointed, naturally, to a new electric vehicle sub-brand. But, given the Stinger shown here is the regular twin-turbo petrol car, the E badge's purpose remains unclear. Kia Australia has confirmed however that there are no known plans to launch a sub-brand globally, which suggests this new E badge is a domestic Korean market offering. This would be similar to the Tuscani badge worn by the Hyundai Tiburon (which was its name in Korea), along with the many Toyota models in Japan that wear unique front badging.

Stay tuned to CarAdvice for more Kia Stinger coverage in the lead-up to its Australian launch later this year. MORE: Kia Stinger news

MORE: Everything Kia Are you as impressed with the Stinger GT's performance claim as we are? Let us know in the comments below