Introduction

The 2008 Kia Amanti is a nice car that delivers exceptional value in its class of larger sedans. The 3.8-liter V6 engine has big, smooth power, the ride quality is near-luxury, and the cabin is whisper-quiet on the road. Amanti is packed with standard features that the American, European and Japanese manufacturers simply can't offer at such bargain-basement prices, fully exploiting the labor-cost advantage the Korean automaker enjoys relative to its competition. The Amanti competes with the Toyota Avalon, Nissan Maxima, Ford Taurus, Chrysler 300, Hyundai Azera, and Buick LaCrosse and Lucerne: a formidable group when it comes to interior package size and value. Kia crossed into the near-luxury segment when it launched Amanti for 2004. Initially, its upright, vaguely retro-modern look polarized buyers, but a redesign for 2007 has softened the Amanti's styling statement. The 2007 revisions upgraded the V6 engine and suspension and shaved 250 pounds off the curb weight. The engine delivers strong power when accelerating onto busy freeways. The ride is nice on rough highways and the steering is very light. The suspension is tuned to obtain a smooth ride quality. The Kia Amanti was launched as a 2007 model in early 2006. There are no changes for 2008.

Walkaround

Fresh styling sets the current Kia Amanti apart from the 2004-06 models, and it looks contemporary. For 2007, the front and rear styling revised, and it's a much better looking car than the original. It's somewhat reminiscent of the Lincoln Town Car in a smaller scale, with a dose of early-postwar British eccentricity thrown in. The fact that the current model is 251 pounds lighter than its predecessor also counts when it comes to engineering refinement and fuel mileage.

Interior Features

Like the exterior, the interior of the Kia Amanti was significantly revised for 2007, trading a kind of Jaguar-meets-Buick look for the currently more fashionable solid-and-massive motif. The Amanti we drove was a festival of black leather upholstery and solid, functional shapes, with white marking on all the switches, controls, and gauges: a simple, well laid out and very appealing interior scheme with very little crowding of controls. Everything was well placed and easily understood. Everything we touched and used felt like quality, with smooth actions and positive stops on everything that moved. The cabin is quite roomy front and rear, with plenty of leg and head room for six-footers in the rear, along with separate air conditioning circuitry and a second 12-volt power point. The seats are thick, supportive and nicely coved, front and rear, and the driver's seat has plenty of adjustment range including lumbar support. There is a 3-D effect to the Premium instrument package that we liked a lot, with a centered gear indicator that switched back and forth between manual and automatic modes. We particularly liked the layout of the buttons on the steering wheel for the cruise control and sound system, beautifully integrated and easy to use. The Infinity sound system was easy to use, though it was lacking an auxiliary input for digital music players. Music sounded clean and powerful through the system's nine speakers. Another feature we really liked was the top center digital display screen with trip computer, a large display with large, easy to read markings for time, day, date, temperature, mileage, distance to empty, etc. A navigation system is not offered, however.