2004 Kia Amanti

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/11/2003 (8168 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FOR those who thought the day would never come when you could spend $35,000 on a Kia, cast your memories back to the early 1950s, when an unknown German manufacturer named Volkswagen exported a funny looking little insect-shaped econobox called the Beetle.

A bottom-feeder in the market for years, VW went on to become a major player, worldwide, in the carmaking business, as we all know by now. They just launched a $100,000-plus saloon called the W12 Phaeton.

There are other examples. BMW got its start in North America after the Second World War with the three-wheeled Isetta sub-sub compact, and Hyundai, Kia’s parent company, secured a beachhead with the attractively priced but deeply flawed Pony in the early 1980s.

Whether Kia will attain these heights remains to be seen, but with the Amanti, they have demonstrated that it’s a definite possibility. This is a well-built, comfortable four-door sedan that gives maximum bang for the buck, at least in terms of what you get for your money.

Developed over a 22-month period at a cost of some $166 million (Cdn), the Amanti is not, the company wants you to know, a re-dressed Hyundai XG350. This is a brand-new automobile from the ground up and is a key component in their quest to be a “Top Five” manufacturer by 2010.

Constructed on Kia’s Equis platform (a luxury sedan sold in Korea), the Amanti has exterior sheet metal described by Kia stylists as “strong and dignified”. If you look carefully, you can see influences from Lincoln, Jaguar, and Mercedes in the overall design. Although a touch on the conservative side, it all seems to come together well enough. Buyers in this market definitely do NOT want a wildly-styled set of wheels anyway; typically, they’ll be looking at other models like the Toyota Avalon and Buick LeSabre…..not exactly cutting edge examples of the stylists’ art. To my eyes, Kia could trim a few inches off the top of the front grille to good effect, and if the car’s waistline was lowered a little, it wouldn’t hurt either, but that’s just me.

Power for the Amanti is delivered by a 3.5-litre V6 with dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder that delivers 200 horsepower at 5,500 rpm. This engine is taken from the Sedona mini-van with different camshaft profiles and a re-calibrated intake manifold. It also has a variable intake system that varies the length of the intake manifold according to engine rpms and load — in other words, it ships more air when you boot it. Interestingly, most other vehicles in this range have a variable valve timing system of some sort.

Whatever, the engine is mated to a five-speed automatic with a manual shift option. Again, no real ground-breaking here; power is adequate, but the Amanti won’t be setting any quarter-mile ET records. Fuel economy is pegged at 14.3 L/100 km (19.8 mpg) in the city, and 8.7 L/100 km (32.5 mpg) on the highway, which is thriftier than the LeSabre, but inferior to the Avalon.

Where the Amanti shines is in equipment level and construction quality. This is as smooth and silent a vehicle as anything else in its price range. Road noise and drivetrain chatter is minimal, and you feel like you’re behind the wheel of an upscale automobile when you drive the Amanti — crucial in this market. Base price is $34,995 and the standard features list seems to go on forever. For example, you get dual-zone climate control, leather interior, heated front seats, power heated mirrors, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, rear heater control, power windows with express down feature, power sunroof, and on and on. All of the modcons you’d expect to find on a luxury car are here, and there are also vehicle stability control and traction control systems as well as a brake proportioning assist program.

A word about the suspension. Basically, it’s double wishbones and coil springs up front and multi-link/coil springs in the back with stabilizer bars on both ends — pretty standard fare. During the vehicle launch in Victoria popular consensus among journalists was that it needed to be firmed up a notch. The Amanti is not particularly suited to spirited, high-speed cornering and the suspension is definitely on the soft side. That’s because it’s supposed to be. This is a Mom and Pop sedan meant to pamper its occupants every step of the way. Any hint of harshness changes the Amanti’s character completely, and that’s just not the market Kia is aiming at.

A market, incidentally, that is pretty set in its ways. As somebody pointed out, for a lot of typical buyers, this may be the last vehicle they ever buy. They want to make sure they get it right. And so does Kia.

Only time will tell if they’ve succeeded.