The demise of the Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo and Holden Commodore SS has left fans of affordable performance sedans feeling downhearted. But an unlikely saviour has emerged from South Korea - the Kia Stinger.

Rather than just take over where Aussie sports sedans are leaving a gaping hole, Kia believes the Stinger will have a larger impact on its brand as it hopes it will fundamentally change the way Australian motorists perceive Kia.

This is Kia’s ‘WRX moment’, a chance for it to forever change the way buyers look at the Korean brand. Once known for cheap and simple cars it has worked hard and invested heavily in improving its product over the last decade. But to take the next step it needs the Stinger to break through the perception barrier that surrounds it.

“It’s not very often you get to launch a car that will change the perception of the brand, and that’s exactly what we think the Stinger will do,” said Damien Meredith, Kia Australia’s chief operating officer.

No pressure then…

The good news for Kia is the Stinger does live up to much of the early hype that has surrounded the car since its unveiling at the 2017 Detroit motor show in January. The Australian launch of the car took place on some of the most challenging roads around Canberra as well as an unrestricted blast around the Wakefield Park racetrack.

Kia is offering two petrol engine options for the Stinger, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo and a 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo.

The 2.0-litre produces 182kW of power and 353Nm of torque, while the V6 offers up punchier 272kW and 510Nm outputs. Both are paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission and send power to the rear wheels.

The combination of a powerful engine and rear-wheel drive configuration and the demise of the homegrown Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon has led to the suggestion that the Stinger will become the new affordable performance car hero.

But Kia Australia hasn't only got its sights set on those Aussie rivals, as it has boldly benchmarked the Stinger against the likes of the BMW 4-Series, Lexus GS F and RC F Coupe.

That ramps up expectations on the Stinger even more but Kia Australia’s local engineering team has done a good job of finding a balanced suspension tune for the car, endowing it with both comfort and dynamic handling.

There are actually two tunes for the car, because the S and Si models come with a passive suspension set-up, while the GT-Line and GT models which top the four-cylinder and V6 range respectively, get a more sophisticated adaptive suspension system.

The standard suspension tune offers up mixed results. On smooth roads it shines, providing excellent body control for such a big car while still feeling comfortable. But on bumpy back roads it feels less convincing, jittering over smaller imperfections and bouncing on bigger dips.

The adaptive dampers are part of the Drive Mode system that allows you to switch between Comfort, Sport, Smart, Eco and Custom modes for the driveline, engine noise and suspension (at least in the GT-Line and GT).

Comfort obviously offers up a softer, more compliant ride while Sport is firmer and offers more control. But it was the Smart setting that proved to be the pick on the twisting country roads between Canberra and Yass during our test drive. It is able to operate across both the Comfort and Sport settings so intuitively soaks up bumps when needed while still feeling sharp and responsive in the bends.

The ride may not be quite up to the standards we’re accustomed to from the decades of practice Holden and Ford had tuning its local sport sedans, but it’s an impressive first effort that feels engaging on the road.

On the track the Stinger was entertaining and fun to drive and displayed an eagerness to slide its tail around. In fact, it was almost too eager to cut loose at the rear end with very little effort needed to have a drift. Fortunately, it’s a progressive slide as it doesn’t snap or bite; as long you feel confident with the back end moving around it’s a blast to drive on track.

The 2.0-litre engine does an admirable job, feeling strong off the mark and pulling smoothly through the mid-range. But it lacks the kick-in-the-back the V6 can offer up and with only $3000 between the four-cylinder and V6 in S and Si trim, and $4000 to upgrade from GT-Line to GT, it makes sense to upgrade.

The twin-turbo six has more than enough grunt to get the Stinger moving, with Kia claiming it will sprint 0-100km/h in just 4.9secs.

What it lacks is a suitable soundtrack to match its performance. It sounds muted in the cabin and flat from outside the car. Even the GT model that pumps synthesized sound through the stereo speakers doesn’t sound much better.

Kia Australia are fully aware of the problem and will offer an optional exhaust system for the V6 as a dealer fitted accessory.

The gearbox is another slight disappointment, specifically the lack of a proper manual mode. While it operates smoothly in its automatic mode, there is no way to lock it into manual gear changes. You can use the shift paddles on the steering wheel but the gearbox defaults to doing things itself after only a few seconds of inaction. It also won’t hold gear if you’re driving hard on the road or track, instead shifting up automatically as soon as it gets near the redline.

While it’s hardly a deal-breaker it’s a glaring omission in a car pitched as a sporty machine.

Kia hasn’t just tried to copy luxury cars in terms of ride and handling, as the design is arguably the most impressive to date from the brand. Both the exterior, with its fastback silhouette, and the cabin, with its clean and sporty presentation, comes across more polished than any previous Kia.

There’s a simplicity to the interior, with three round air vents in the middle of the centre fascia and the infotainment screen sits proudly atop the dashboard. There’s decent small item storage and the seats offer both comfort and support.

While kneeroom in the back seats is good for a large car, the swoopy roofline does compromise headroom for adults.

The boot, which is accessed via a liftback, measures 406-litres with the rear seats up and expands to 1114L with the seats folded.

Kia is offering three trim lines for each engine - S, Si and GT-Line/GT (2.0-litre/3.3-litre respectively) - but all are well equipped.

The base S model gets artificial leather while the Si gets genuine cowhide and the GT-Line/GT are trimmed in higher quality Nappa leather.

Other major differences include a 7-inch infotainment screen on the S while the Si and GT-Line/GT get an 8-inch screen.

The S gets a six-speaker sound system while the Si has nine-speakers and there’s a premium 15-speaker set-up for the GT-Line/GT.

The GT-Line and GT get a comprehensive safety suite including autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assist, driver attention alert, adaptive cruise control, blind spot warning and high beam assist all standard.

The Si gets AEB, lane keeping, driver attention alert and adaptive cruise control but the S misses out completely.

Pricing for the 200S starts at $45,990 and tops out at $55,990 for the 2.0-litre GT-Line. The V6 range begins at $48,990 for the 330S with the GT priced from $59,990 - hitting Kia Australia’s sub-$60k target for the range topper.

Like all Kias its covered by an industry-leading seven-year warranty and capped price servicing program. Over the first three years it will cost $1008 to keep the V6 model maintained, thanks to annual/10,000km service intervals.

Initial supply will be constrained to between 200 to 250 cars per month but within 18 months the brand is targeting a figure double that.

Of course it was impossible for the Stinger to live up to all the hype that preceded its arrival. But, the reality is Kia doesn’t need it to be a big seller. It only needs it to attract attention to its showrooms where new customers will find an existing range of appealing small cars and SUVs.

Kia is already a worthy rival to the mainstream competition, and it’s about time more people take notice. The Stinger is basically a really attractive, real-life advertising campaign. And, for those that buy one, they'll be treated to a bloody good car.

2017 Kia Stinger pricing

200S - $45,990

200Si - $52,990

GT-Line - $55,990

330S - $48,990

330Si - $55,990

GT - $59,990

*All prices exclude on-road costs.

2017 Kia Stinger specifications

On sale: Now

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol/3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol

Power: 182kW at 6200rpm/272kW at 6000rpm

Torque: 353N at 1400-4000rpm/510Nm at 1300-4500rpm

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive

Fuel use: 8.8L/100km/10.2L/100km

• For more information, visit our Kia showroom.