Do you remember the Toyota Crown and the Datsun 810?

They were Japan's earliest attempts to infiltrate the American big-car market with its home market's "big" cars, and they didn't fly too well.

Those awkward attempts at big car-ness forced Toyota and Datsun (now Nissan) to learn some lessons, and saw their big cars morph into the comfortable Toyota Avalon and Nissan Maxima, respectively.

Kia, only 10 years old, had its awkward beginnings, too, with some small cars when CEO Peter Butterfield said it had no dealers and a lot of naysayers who felt it had no future. Now, after their Sedona minivan, Sorento SUV and Optima mid-size fared well stateside, the Korean company sold more than 240,000 cars and SUVs in 2003, making it the eighth largest importer in the United States.

So it has decided it is ready for the big time, as in a bigger car. Developed off corporate owner Hyundai's XG350 sedan, the Amanti starts at ,995 and is almost fully optioned for ,260.

Based on a sedan used by South Korean executives and government officials called the Opirus, it is one of the products Butterfield said will lead them to pass Mazda and Mitsubishi in the import market. That means moving up-market with a larger, near-luxury sedan with good build quality, just like Honda and Nissan did.

"This really is the first premium sedan from Korea at an affordable value price,"Butterfield said at the Miami auto show last fall. "Fully equipped, this vehicle will be competing against the Toyota Avalon, and is between ,000 and ,000 less than it comparably equipped. It has more interior space, and look at the premium fit and finish of the interior. It has very distinctive styling."

Butterfield admitted that focus groups were split -- some loved the styling, or didn't, because they "don't have to sell 100,000 to be successful."

So let's look at the shape.

The Opirus looks about the same as the U.S. model, except for a chevroned grille design vs. our "Neo-Classical"crosshatch chrome. That grille is inset into the bumper, surrounded by quad headlights that look lifted from the1990s Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan.

Nine-spoke alloy wheels wearing Hankook Optimo PP225/60R16-inch radials live under gently flared fenders, while the hood carries the grille shape aft. Chrome accents around the windows, the door rub strip and the door handles as well as on the bumpers adds a classy look.

The roof line looks like a bit of Buick and Lincoln Town Car mixed in, while the tail gets distinctive lights with chrome accents, a slight spoiler-like kickup on the trunk lid, and a nearly invisible exhaust tip. Fit and finish on the body and paint were good, the shut lines precise.

Once inside, a well-finished, eye-appealing design await, done in black vinyl with decent-looking plastic wood inserts. A leather-clad four-spoke steering wheel only tilt adjusts, but carries back-lit stereo (volume, mode and mute, but no station select?) and cruise.

The front bucket seats are comfortable but a bit flat, yet are heated, power adjustable and leather clad in our test model. It also had two memory presets on the door next to the Mercedes-like seat-shaped power controls, although what looks like a power head restraint control is a fake, and the power lumbar can barely be felt even when inflated all the way.

The driver's seat rocked back a bit under braking. The seat faces a handsomely designed dash with chrome-rimmed white and gray-faced 160-mph speedometer and 8,000-rpm tachometer center-stage, flanked by gas and temperature gauges.

The dash center gets a digital trip computer display with outside temperature and time, but satellite navigation isn't available.

The sideview mirrors dip when you are in reverse to see what's behind, but twice stuck there when we drove forward.

The Amanti is 4 inches than the Toyota Avalon, and 4 inches less than the Buick Park Avenue. That means long rear doors that make access easy to a roomy back seat.

The 15-cubic-foot trunk is wide and deep, but doesn't get a pass-through or fold-down rear seats to augment its usefulness. But it does have a cargo net, plus a full-size spare underneath. For safety back inside, eight airbags including side impact and head units front and rear. The car also comes with a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

Under the long hood of our 3,400-mile-old test car, we found a 3.5-liter, DOHC 200-hp V-6, 20 less than the Toyota Avalon's, but only five less than the base Buick LeSabre's.

Its connected to a five-speed automatic transmission that can be manually up- or down-shifted. It's adequate, the engine insulated well enough that you don't hear a lot of noise until its pushed hard. We managed an adequate 0-to 60-mph time of 8.5 seconds, about the same as the last Avalon we tested.

The five-speed automatic transmission, with the ability to slap the shifter to the right and shift yourself, upshifts smoothly. But some downshifts were sharper than you'd think, and lifting off the throttle produced a bit of confusion in which way to go. We managed a so-so16 mpg, but found the gas gauge stayed stuck at just above halfway for days, while the miles-to-empty trip computer display said we only had 57 miles left when we added 8.3 gallons to the 18.5-gallon gas tank after 131 miles of driving.

The suspension has supposedly been firmed up for American tastes, but our 4,117-pound sedan still felt a bit too soft and floaty on less-than-even roads, serenely wafting along, even bouncing a bit when the going got rough.

The power steering, too, overboosted at parking lot speeds, firm up nicely at speed, but is still has a bit too much power assist for my tastes. The brakes stopped the car well, but with some serious ABS action during hard use, and some nose dive.

The base price is ,995, and includes the 200-hp V-6, five-speed shiftable automatic, alloy wheels, front and side airbags, dual-zone climate control, cloth seats, power front seats, keyless entry w/alarm, cruise control, power windows, door locks and mirrors, and AM-FM-CD-Cassette stereo.

Options are pretty limited, including a ,805 leather package with dual memory setting for the driver's seat, Infinity six-disc CD stereo and trip computer. Our car also had the convenience package with sunroof, heated front seats and auto-dim inside mirror with HomeLink garage door transmitter.

The only other option is the esp package, which include traction control. With destination fee, the Amanti's manufacturer's suggested retail price was ,260. A Toyota Avalon with similar features will run about ,000 more.

Bottom line -- this is a big front-wheel-drive sedan with lots of room inside, lots of standard items for the under-,000 base price, and solid build quality. Its looks are a bit derivative, except for the grille. But even when optioned almost all the way, it still offers more room and comfort than its competition. And that makes it an appealing option for someone who wants something more, for a bit less.