Experienced by Adrian McQueen
Photography by Adrenaline Lifestyles
This week we find ourselves hitting the road in the 2025 Kia Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro V6 AWD. It has been couple years since I have been behind the wheel of one so I was excited to review the 2022 Telluride SX V6 AWD.
The Kia Telluride was originally introduced as a concept car in 2016 at the North American International Auto Show. The Kia Telluride is a mid-size crossover, three-row, seven-passenger SUV. It is named after the town Telluride, in Colorado, and debuted in the spring of 2019 as a 2020 model. In 2020, the Telluride was named the 2020 World Car of the Year.
The Kia Telluride shares components and specifications with its sister model, the Hyundai Palisade, including its engine, transmission, and wheelbase. Kia has named this vehicle after the town of Telluride, Colorado, the Telluride is the largest vehicle Kia has manufactured in the United States.
Upon first look you notice the Telluride’s truck-like exterior, while rectangular in appearance, is still sporty with the grille, headlights and fog lights. The midnight lake blue paint gleams bright, while the orange LED lighting around the headlights truly stands out. The telluride sits on 18” Black finished alloy wheels wrapped in All Terrain tires that give it a rugged look. The dual sunroofs are a great touch as well. On the hood and tailgate, “TELLURIDE” is prominently marked and nearly extends the width of the vehicle. The X-Pro Telluride trim also has gloss black exterior accents, a protective lower bumper trim with body-colored elements, black side windows and wheel well trim, power-folding heated side mirrors with turn signals, and a fixed rear window with a wiper.
The Telluride can seat up to eight passengers and offers a maximum of 87 cubic feet of cargo capacity. Kia lists the Telluride’s cargo hold as offering 21 cubic feet of space with the third row of seats in place. When you fold the third row down, cargo room expands to 46 cubic feet. The seats up front are comfortable with driver-seat memory functions, captain’s chairs in the middle and a reasonably sized third row. The Telluride includes a power liftgate, underfloor storage, and a 115-volt power outlet in the cargo area. The second-row seats can be folded using buttons located in the cargo area The interior ambient lighting is a cool feature to have in the vehicle. The interior design is upscale with an impressive cabin filled with high-quality materials and an eye-pleasing design.
Kia equips the Telluride with a stellar technology package starting off with dual 12.3-inch panoramic displays, one for the digital instrument cluster and one for the touchscreen infotainment, using the latest version of Kia’s UVO infotainment system. The infotainment supports wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Voice recognition, Navigation, a Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth connectivity for multiple devices, and pre-cooling and heating via the Kia Access app. There is a 10-speaker Harman Kardon premium audio system with Clari-Fi music restoration technology that is out of this world. The cabin is equipped with multiple USB-C fast-charging ports for all three rows, as well as a wireless charging pad. A couple cool features that I really enjoyed were the Head-up display and the Digital rearview mirror.
The 2025 Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro is equipped with a 3.8-liter Gas Direct Injection (GDI) V6 engine that puts out 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, all pushed through a smooth shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. The gas mileage on the Telluride isn’t bad coming at 18 mpg in the city, 23 mpg highway and 20 mpg combined. The Telluride drives and handles well. Comfort and Eco mode are fine but the Telluride comes to life when in Sport mode. Throttle response is enhanced as well as improvement to the steering and suspension.
The 2025 Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro V6 AWD is a very safe vehicle, earning a five-star overall rating from the NHTSA and a Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS. Kia equips the Telluride with Advanced driver-assistance systems like Highway Driving Assist 1.5, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert. The SX-Prestige trim that we reviewed has Highway Driving Assist 2 (HDA 2), a 360-degree camera, blind-spot cameras, and front parking sensors.
The Telluride sits in a competitive class amongst the Hyundai Palisade, Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot, Subaru Ascent, Chevrolet Traverse, Mazda CX-90 and Nissan Pathfinder. The 2025 Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro V6 AWD model that we tested came in at $56,240.00, which is competitively priced and worth it. Please enjoy the photo gallery.
