Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Vehicle

The 2008 Kia Amanti surprises me. There’s another upscale family sedan in the market that I hadn’t thought about. A friend asked “Is that a Benz?”

Inside it is spacious and quiet. There’s a lot of car for the money.

The Kia Amanti is just five years young. Yet it continues to be the flagship car for Kia and gives strong value among upscale family sedans. Though midsize, it feels bigger.

The Kia Amanti gets is power from a 3.8-liter V6 that generates 264 horsepower, more than standard V6s.

Though some might consider the design a down point I think it is rather good looking. The Kia Amanti isn’t as  well known as other cars in its class. Shoppers who don’t care about image but rather think about dynamics and price will find the Amanti a good choice.

Standard features for the 2008 Kia Amanti sedan include 16-inch wheels, foglights, full power accessories, power front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, an auto-dimming rearview mirror and an eight-speaker CD audio system. Leather seats, heated front seats and two memory settings for the driver are optional.  A sunroof is also available.

The Kia Amanti is front wheel drive and has a five-speed automatic transmission with manual shift control.  It has good speed when entering the highway.  Fuel economy is a desirable 17 mpg city, 24 mpg highway.

The Amanti has disc brakes, active front head restraints, front seat-mounted side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags.

The Amanti comfortably seats five including a baby seat. Faux wood and metallic accents, leather-covered armrest. The trunk can hold an mini-suv-sized baby buggy and my golf clubs.

The Amanti is a surprising car – smooth, quiet, strong, swift. Good-looking and comfortable. I was reminded that there is another Asian car maker that roll out a quality machine. Our family of three fit in nicely and, sadly for me, there is plenty of room to haul the in-laws as well.

Price as Driven – $34,500

Basic: 5 yr/60,000 mi

Drivetrain: 10 yr/100,000 mi

Roadside: 5 yr/60,000 mi

Rust: 5yr/ 100,000 mi.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.