11th Place: Kia Amanti

Overview:

The Kia Amanti is the most luxurious car under $30,000. Setting aside its controversial styling, it gets nearly everything right in delivering the feeling of a good expensive luxury car. Its V6 is smooth and powerful, it cruises easily and very quietly, and its spacious interior is very well-finished. But what it gets wrong, it really gets wrong. Despite a recent update, the soft-tuned suspension couples with the Amanti's excess mass to produce particularly poor handling for a modern passenger car. While not a safety hazard, the Amanti is ponderous to drive in corners, with excessive body roll and numb, slow steering. A soft ride is a matter of preference, but clumsy handling is never desirable. Top-notch luxury is great, but cars do sometimes need to change direction, at which point the Amanti dramatically fails to live up to the expectations of excellence the rest of the car encourages. 

Driving the Amanti:

The Amanti absorbs small bumps well and behaves well at highway speeds on smooth pavement, but the very softly tuned suspension allows for some excess floaty motions as it recovers from bumps. Larger bumps at lower speeds could also be better managed, but the ride is comfortable overall. However, as noted earlier, the car feels clumsy, with pronounced body roll even in routine driving, as if the car is always asking to be driven more gently. The steering is numb and slow to respond. The 3.8-liter V6 provides good acceleration even by the standards of this highly-competitive group, but it would do better still in a lighter car. Engine, wind, and road noise are superbly suppressed for this price range. Gas mileage is the worst in this group.

Inside the Amanti:

The Amanti’s front seats are large, well-shaped, supportive, and overall very comfortable. The spacious rear also offers excellent accommodations. Feet fit comfortably under the front seats, and even middle-position occupants will be fairly comfortable. The interior quality is exceptional for this price range, with high-quality materials fitting together very well. The instruments are logically placed and easy to use, and the gauges are very clear. Drivers sit comfortably despite the lack of either a telescoping steering wheel or the optional power-adjustable pedals, and have generally unimpeded visibility. Wide, well-shaped door openings, large footwells, and the high roof facilitate entry/exit. The trunk is large enough and well-shaped, but the rear seats cannot fold to increase capacity.

Amanti pricing:

The Amanti comes very well-equipped at $27,840, with such luxury items as a memory system for the driver's seat and mirrors and a power passenger seat, and such safety features as active head restraints and rear-seat torso-protecting side airbags.

Conclusion:

The Amanti is not for anyone who seeks an agile feel in their car. Even some people who don't prioritize handling will likely be put off by its cornering clumsiness. But for anyone who can get past that main shortcoming, and the poor gas mileage, it offers a superb amount of comfort and luxury for its price, and merits consideration. But before buying, bear in mind that a few other cars come close to its luxury, even if none can match or exceed it.

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