2027 Kia Telluride Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Five core trim levels are available for the non-hybrid 2027 Telluride: LX, S, EX, SX, and SX Prestige. Kia offers a sporty X-Line appearance treatment for all but the LX and S trims, with an X-Pro off-roading upgrade available for the SX and SX Prestige, resulting in 10 different flavors of this SUV. Prices range from $40,735 to $58,335, including the $1,545 destination charge.

Our test vehicle arrived in top-shelf X-Pro SX Prestige spec equipped with Terrain Brown Matte paint and carpeted floor mats. Those upgrades brought the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to $59,580, including destination.

Styling is always subjective. We think the new Telluride looks better than its predecessor in some ways but is less appealing in others. It would also be nice if more versions aside from the S trim level offered a wheel finish other than black.

More consistent variability in interior colors would be appreciated, too. Black dominates across trims, and while Kia offers several different alternatives, they’re tied to specific trim levels and paint colors, making it harder to find a winning combination. Buyers are instead forced to settle, which is never a good thing.

For example, the off-road-themed X-Pro SX and SX Prestige have an appealing, purposeful lifted look. But the only interior color is black or a black-dominant two-tone alternative employing light gray upper seat and door panel trim. The reason for the dark, dour, and bleak mood inside an X-Line or X-Pro is partly the eradication of the metallic-finish brightwork offered in other trims, resulting in a cabin that looks cheaper, even though it's more expensive.

The Telluride X-Pro’s interior appears minimalist, but we counted over 50 buttons, dials, and toggles scattered across the dash, center console, steering wheel, and door panels. But is there a tuning knob? No. And to use the defrosters, drivers must find the virtual button on the 5-inch touchscreen that the steering wheel partially blocks. When turned, the wheel can also block the engine start/stop button, which is located on the column-mounted shifter. It’s super easy to find and use Terrain Mode for off-roading, though, even when drivers are wearing gloves.

Kia equips the 2027 Telluride with a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 274 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 311 pound-feet of torque from 1,700 rpm to 4,000 rpm. It pairs with an eight-speed automatic transmission and drivers can choose from Eco, Normal, Sport, and configurable My Drive modes. According to Kia, the maximum towing capacity is 5,000 pounds.

The Telluride is available with front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD), but the latter isn’t available on the LX and SX trim levels. AWD is standard on the X-Pro SX or X-Pro SX Prestige, which also have a lifted suspension for 9.1 inches of ground clearance (vs. 7.4 inches for other trims). The X-Pro treatment also includes black 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tires, an electronic limited-slip differential, Terrain driving modes (Snow, Mud, Sand), an Off-Road Info display panel, and a Ground View Monitor camera system.

The X-Pro gets EPA-rated fuel economy of 17 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, and 19 mpg combined. Other Tellurides with AWD rate 18/24/20 respectively, numbers that are nearly identical to the previous-generation model equipped with a bigger V6 engine. Telluride Hybrids with AWD get 31 mpg in combined driving, for the record.

On a 90-degree day in mid-afternoon traffic, the X-Pro averaged 14.1 mpg driving only in the city. On our Southern California fuel economy assessment loop, with a 50:50 mix of city and highway driving, it averaged 20.2 mpg. On the mountainous evaluation loop, the result was 17.2 mpg. In 2024, a previous-generation Telluride returned 19 mpg on that same route.

So, the new turbocharged four-cylinder engine doesn’t deliver better gas mileage and makes 17 fewer horsepower while adding 49 lb-ft of torque. And while this engine stayed energetic at elevation thanks to forced induction, it also exhibited significant turbo lag, a delay between pressing the accelerator and the turbo spooling up to deliver the power. The turbo four also makes unpleasant noises when accelerating; when climbing a mountain pass on a freeway, it grumbled, droned, and even sounded a little rattly. Overall, we really missed the old 3.8-liter V6.

As for the ride and handling, the X-Pro soaked up speed humps as though they didn’t exist and the brake pedal felt great no matter the driving situation, making it easy to execute smooth, clean stops (although the brakes heated up when descending a mountain pass). The Telluride was also relatively quiet on a stretch of freeway that typically causes significant road noise to seep into our test vehicles.

But that’s where the praise ends. Over smaller and sharper road surface irregularities, the X-Pro feels almost brittle. Plenty of road shock from the Telluride’s rack-mounted electric steering travels through the column and wheel to the driver’s hands. On pavement, the Continental Cross Contact ATR tires lack grip in corners and curves, and that also makes the steering feel less accurate.

Thanks to the X-Pro’s 9.1 inches of ground clearance, we only smacked the underside on the ground once while crawling across a rutted section of the terrain at a California off-road park. Tire grip in the dirt was good, and the suspension handled off-road driving well, but lacked wheel articulation necessary for the toughest stuff.

We found our Telluride X-Pro SX Prestige’s driver’s seat uncomfortable despite 10-way power adjustment (including for lumbar and thigh support) and an Ergo Motion periodic-massage function. This top-of-the-line trim level also included heated and ventilated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

Yet after 30 minutes of driving, we wanted out. And after 90 minutes, pain had set in. The seat felt hard and flat, and even with the various adjustments, we could not find the right mix of height and cushion angle. We also felt as though we were sitting on an overinflated section of cushion or a weird seam in the upholstery. Sliding forward on the seat a little and slouching behind the steering wheel helped to alleviate our discomfort, but that shouldn’t be a requirement to get comfortable.

Oddly, the eight-way power front passenger’s seat felt more comfortable. By switching back and forth we concluded there must have been something wrong with our test vehicle’s driver’s seat. At least, we hope that was the problem.

Both second-row captain’s chairs and the third-row bench seat were comfortable and accommodating. We had plenty of legroom in the second row, the inboard armrests are height-adjustable, and the manual side window shades cover nearly all the glass. Overhead climate controls allow passengers to adjust the temperature, and the test vehicle included a rear glass sunroof panel.

Entering and exiting the third row is difficult for larger individuals, and the rear doors lack strong detents, so they want to swing closed while passengers are clambering in. Once seated, they’ll find a cushion that sits high enough off the floor to provide decent leg support, and if those sitting in the second row are willing to slide up a bit, six-footers can ride back there.

Interior storage space is not as good as it should be. The two wireless smartphone charging pads are great, and the retractable cupholders offer flexibility in how drivers and passengers can use the exposed tray on the center console. The glove compartment is generous, too. However, there is very little storage located on the lower door panels, and the bin underneath the front center armrest isn’t very big. Kia provides a tray under the center console, but it's hard to see and access while driving.

One reason the covered center armrest bin isn’t big is because the entire lower portion of the console slides out toward the second-row seats to provide a rubber-surfaced tray and storage area for rear passengers. Kia also reserves some front console surface area to house large cupholders for second-row riders.

A hands-free power liftgate opens to reveal 22.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row. Kia provides hooks for grocery bags but not a deep recessed tray for carrying beverages. There is some compartmentalized storage space located under the cargo floor, though.

Fold the third-row seats down, and the Telluride can hold 48.7 cubic feet of cargo room, which is a generous amount. Maximum cargo volume measures 89.3 cubic feet with the second- and third-row seats folded flat.

Every 2027 Telluride has a wide, panoramic display panel perched on the dashboard. It contains a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a 5-inch touchscreen for the climate controls, and digital instrumentation with a configurable 4.2-inch display. Starting with the Telluride SX, the digital instrumentation is fully configurable with a 12.3-inch display, and a 12-inch head-up display is standard in all three SX Prestige models.

The infotainment system includes Bluetooth connectivity for multiple devices, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, Kia Connect connected services with access to a Wi-Fi hotspot, a navigation system, and a Passenger Talk driver intercom feature. Additionally, the Telluride has dual wireless phone charging pads, USB-C ports in all three rows, and starting with the SX trim level, a 14-speaker Meridian sound system.

Despite how the steering wheel partially blocks the view of the climate panel, this tech stack represents a clear improvement over the old Telluride. It emphasizes simplicity, but that doesn’t mean it lacks sophistication, and drivers can personalize a multitude of settings.

Kia Connect includes a conversational digital voice assistant, and it quickly and accurately responded to each of our evaluation commands. However, most of the week we used the wireless Apple CarPlay, which reconnected each time without any issues. The Meridian audio system sounded great while streaming Apple Music.

The 2027 Telluride’s menu of driver-assistance features is impressive. Every trim level includes forward-collision warning with pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitors, and rear cross-traffic alert with automatic braking. Lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and lane-centering assist are also standard, along with front and rear parking sensors.

Also standard is adaptive cruise control with speed-limit assist and the ability to automatically slow down for curves when using the navigation. The optional Highway Driving Assist (HDA) combines adaptive cruise with auto lane centering for highway travel. Importantly, the steering wheel detects when the driver is gripping it, so they don’t need to make occasional steering inputs to prove they're paying attention.

Incredibly, that’s not the end of the list. The Telluride even has junction turning detection, which can help prevent collisions at intersections. Safe-exit assist warns drivers when it might not be safe to open a door. A radar-sensor rear occupant detection system stands guard to issue an alert via smartphone app if it detects a child or pet accidentally left inside.

The Telluride SX adds another layer of tech in the form of active blind-spot monitors that can add steering to discourage an unsafe lane change, front cross-traffic alert, evasive steering assist, oncoming vehicle collision avoidance, a surround-view camera system, and blind-spot cameras. It also adds a lane-change assist feature for Highway Driving Assist and side parking sensors. Remote Smart Parking Assist gives owners the ability to stash the Telluride in a tight parking space by standing outside of the vehicle and commanding it to autonomously park.

That’s an incredibly generous list of features, and to the degree that we could safely assess them, they worked extremely well. We also liked how the X-Pro SX Prestige’s blind-spot monitors notify a driver of nearby vehicles with visual indicators on the side mirrors and on the head-up display, along with the live video feed when signaling. With three ways to see if the coast is clear, there isn’t any excuse for cutting off someone else or colliding with them.

On the negative side, we didn’t like how abruptly the lane-change assist system operated when using Highway Driving Assist. Also, we turned off the speed-limit assist and curve-speed reduction features because previous experience with those technologies showed they can spark road rage in drivers following the car.

The 2027 Telluride earns a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the rating was valid for the 2026 calendar year at the time of writing. The IIHS typically announces renewals during the first quarter of a calendar year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had not released crash-test ratings for the Telluride at the time of writing.

The 2027 Kia Telluride is available at a competitive price, includes an outstanding warranty, and is expected to retain its value well over time. It's not very fuel-efficient when equipped with its standard turbocharged engine, though, and doesn’t include some of the perks available with competitor models such as complimentary scheduled maintenance or lifetime access to connected services.

The Telluride Hybrid is compelling because it should get 11 mpg more in combined driving, but it is a pricey upgrade. Kia doesn’t offer the hybrid powertrain with LX or S trim, and the least-expensive EX hybrid costs $2,700 more than the equivalent non-hybrid model.

Alternatively, buyers could always hunt down a low-mileage example of the previous Telluride. The redesigned model is undeniably more advanced and looks more modern inside and out. But during our week with this 2027 sequel to the biggest hit in Kia’s history, we found ourselves missing the old one more frequently than we expected.