Telluride, the Colorado mountain town north of Durango, can now join the ranks of western locations that loan their names to hopeful automakers eager to sprinkle their products with some adventurous spirit. This time, it's the Koreans who are dipping into an atlas for their latest three-row SUV. As the first Kia designed and built specifically for the US market, as well as the largest Kia yet, the 2020 Kia Telluride looks to convince Americans that they can play in the big-SUV sandbox just as well as the competition.
What's New for 2020
The Kia Telluride is an all-new vehicle.
Choosing Your Kia Telluride
Displacing 3.8 liters, the Telluride's naturally-aspirated V6 makes 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. Paired up to this engine is an eight-speed automatic transmission. The combination is good for an EPA-estimated 20 miles per gallon city, 26 mpg highway, and 23 combined with front-wheel drive, or 19/24/21 mpg (city/highway/combined) with all-wheel drive. Exploiting the 5,000-pound towing capacity might put a dent into these numbers.
All-wheel drive is a $2,000 option across the range, though how much power runs to the rear wheels is dependent on which of the four drive modes has been selected. In Sport mode, up to 35 percent of power is sent to the rear wheels, while Comfort mode sends just 20 percent to the rear. Eco and Smart modes send 100 percent of power up front.
Spring for AWD and you'll also get a pair of additional traction settings that offer superior traction in particular situations. Snow mode offers the same power split as Comfort, while Lock mode allocates an even amount of power to all four wheels.
Advanced driver-assist safety features are more and more becoming the norm, and the Telluride does nothing to buck this trend. Even the base LX gets gee-whiz tech like driver attention warning, blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, and lane following assist. The top-spec SX adds a blind-spot view monitor, high-beam assist, forward parking distance warning, and a surround-view camera system.
Regardless of trim level, the Telluride has precious few options to pick from – if you want more features, Kia demands you step up a trim level. What options do exist are mostly particular to a single trim.
That said, the high level of standard content at every trim level lend all variants an enticing value proposition. The top two trims in particular include a number of standard features that would make certain luxury cars blush.
The Telluride is available in four trims:
The 2020 Kia Telluride EX does a convincing interpretation of a luxury SUV, and its 18-inch wheels, while not as flashy as the 20-inchers found on the S or SX, promise a better ride over rough roads. It would be our choice of the four.