Review: 2021 Kia Telluride Nightsky Edition – WHEELS.ca

I drove the Hyundai Palisade a couple of years ago and had mostly good things to say even though I wasn’t enamoured with its styling, particularly the front of it.

Its corporate sibling, the Kia Telluride and the focus of this review doesn’t have that problem. With clean and simple lines, a contemporary grille, and more traditional headlamps with cool orange DRLs, it conveys a sense of elevated style and refined luxury, where the Palisade felt like it was trying a bit too hard.

A Nightsky special edition package available on the SX Limited trim for an additional $1000 adds a unique black grille and black roof rails, black badging, black skid plates, and black 20-inch wheels. Couple it with one of the sweet available colours like Sangria, or Dark Moss like on my tester and the Telluride makes a visual statement that will impress the adults and won’t embarrass the kids. This is a three-row family SUV that will have you glancing back at it after you park it, and that’s not something that happens very often.

A 3.8-L 291 horse naturally aspirated V6 mated to an 8-speed automatic is the sole powertrain option. It’s smooth, quiet, unobtrusive, and only makes itself known under heavy acceleration where it sounds pleasant and provides adequate thrust and passing power. It will even tow up to 2268 kg if you need it too.

Seating for eight and all-wheel drive is standard, and all but the entry-level EX trim gets Kia’s nifty blind-spot view monitor that displays a camera image of whatever is in your blind spot right on the instrument cluster screen.

Included safety tech is also impressive, with items like Safe Exit Assist that uses sensors to detect an approaching vehicle, sounding audible and visual warnings to prevent the driver from opening the doors. It can also activate the child locks and will not allow the rear doors to be opened until the path is clear. There are also blind-spot monitors with collision avoidance, forward collision avoidance, and rear cross-traffic alert for an all-encompassing protective shield.

Worried about the safety of the little ones? Electronic child locks can be activated with the push of a button and will save you from having to manually set them like on most vehicles. There’s also rear occupant alert that will help ensure that no one in the rear seats ever gets left behind. And all this is standard on every Telluride.

A 10.25-inch centre display with UVO intelligence and included navigation is also standard as is Apple Car Play and Android Auto, though it’s still isn’t wireless.

Level up to the SX Limited like you see here and you get nearly every bit of kit that you’d find on vehicles double the price, like dual sunroofs, a premium audio system, leather seating, a 360-degree camera, and a head-up display. It also ditches the second-row bench seat for a pair of captain’s chairs that are both heated and ventilated. Quality is generally very good, although a sticky centre console storage lid and a flimsy feeling cover ahead of the gear shifter felt a bit chintzy.

The Telluride’s cabin is an excellent space to spend time. With a laminated windshield and front row glass, comfy seats, and excellent ergonomics with nice big glove-friendly physical buttons for most of the important controls, Kia got this interior space right. I also appreciate the traditional gearshift lever, versus the push button setup in the Palisade.

Second-row passengers have it even better with heated and cooled reclining seats, their own sunroof, and conveniently placed USB ports. Getting into the third row can be done with the push of a button revealing a large opening that can be crawled through easily. Once back there, even adults will find it possible to get comfortable unless you’re much north of 6 feet tall.

There’s a sense of calm and serenity when driving the Telluride. There’s nothing sporty about the suspension tuning but that’s a big benefit for the ride, which is exceptionally well-controlled and very refined for such a large vehicle. All controls have this same refinement, from the pedals to the steering. After a tough day at the office or virtual office, it’s exactly the type of vehicle you want waiting for you.

Behind the third row, there’s still 600 litres of storage leftover and it’s just about right for a stroller and week’s worth of groceries. Fold the third row down with the controls in the cargo area and the capacity more than doubles.

The Telluride will even off-road, with a terrain dial that gives you snow, mud, and sand modes. I wouldn’t expect Range Rover prowess in the rough, but with decent ground clearance and all-wheel drive, it will traverse a light trail without much issue.

With a growing list of options to pick from in this space, including established nameplates like the Ford Explorer and Toyota Highlander, the Telluride still remains at the top of my list. It does everything well and has tech that pretty much blows away anything else in the segment. If you can get your hands on one, you won’t be disappointed.