If you choose all-wheel drive, Kia includes a button to lock the center differential on-demand, plus the requisite drive modes for snow and “sport,” should you think your Telluride is a canyon-carver. Power flows through an eight-speed torque-converter automatic – a Kia in-house design – and to either the front wheels or all four. It’s a bit old-school, but it works.Įvery 2022 Telluride is powered by the same 3.8-liter naturally-aspirated V6, which produces 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. Where Hyundai goes for expressive styling and more futuristic interior layout, Kia keeps things simple with straight lines and clean design. While the mechanicals are shared with the Hyundai Palisade, the Kia Telluride wears entirely unique styling and offers a very different interior. It’s a unibody design with three rows of seats, able to seat seven or eight depending on your second-row configuration. This is a 2022 Kia Telluride SX, the top trim level of Kia’s largest crossover. I wanted two questions answered – how well does the Telluride actually handle 5,000 pounds, and why is every hot mom and hot dad snapping up the Telluride in particular? What Is It? fleet had a hitch, I sent a request to drive it immediately. When I realized the 2022 Kia Telluride SX in the Washington, D.C. More importantly, I hadn’t been able to see how well the Palisade could tow its rated 5,000 pounds – the press loaner local to me didn’t come with a trailer hitch.

Though I spent time with its platform-mate Hyundai Palisade two years ago, I’d not driven the Telluride until last week. Kia’s Telluride has been a hot seller from the minute it went on sale in 2020. Her second-story barbershop overlooks U Street Northwest, and she had glanced ever so briefly outside, catching me backing in to a “princess parking” spot right out front. “I really like that Audi you drove today!” My barber, Lesley, is a bit of a car gal.

Kia telluride ratings