Key Points in This Review

• The Kia Telluride is largely unchanged since its refresh for the 2023 model year.
• The sole powertrain is a 3.8-liter V-6 with 291 horsepower and 262 pounds-feet of torque, and it pairs with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
• The X-Pro trim’s chunky all-terrain tires might improve grip in rare off-roading situations, but they make the Telluride feel clumsy and numb on pavement.
• While the Telluride’s cabin materials and design punch above this SUV’s price, its tech is somewhat outdated.

After driving a top-of-the-line 2025 Kia Telluride SX-Prestige X-Pro, I’m reminded why the Telluride remains so popular — and where it needs to improve.

Related: Kia Shows Off 2027 Telluride’s Bold New Look Ahead of Los Angeles Auto Show Debut

Is the 2025 Kia Telluride Still a Great 3-Row SUV?

• Takeaway: A comfortable ride, smooth V-6, upscale interior and roomy cabin are still strengths of the Telluride.

Climbing into the Telluride SX-Prestige, you’ll find a surprisingly upscale cabin, particularly when it’s decked out with our test vehicle’s optional Terracotta Nappa leather upholstery ($295 and well worth the price). High-quality materials abound, and every surface that should be soft-touch is. Second-row passengers in the SX-Prestige get comfortable captain’s chairs, and the third-row bench is acceptable for adult passengers (including my 6-foot-1 self).

Dual 12.3-inch displays dominate the dashboard; they’re seamlessly integrated into one large, modern housing. More importantly, the now-familiar-to-me displays still look modern despite the infotainment system being an older version of Kia’s tech. They remain easy to navigate. The wealth of physical climate and other controls below the central touchscreen is also a plus.

Rounding out the Telluride’s excellence is its naturally aspirated V-6. With just 291 hp for a roughly 4,500-pound SUV, the Telluride isn’t quick, but its V-6 delivers power smoothly and has enough in reserve for highway passing and merging to not be harrowing. What impresses more is how unobtrusively the engine operates. Many competitors have made the switch to high-output turbocharged four-cylinder engines, and those can feel unrefined and grating — not worth whatever power or fuel-economy advantages they hold over Kia’s old-school V-6.

Related Video:

Is the Telluride Kia’s Best 3-Row SUV?

• Takeaway: The Telluride’s aging interior tech and the clumsy ride of the X-Pro trim level mean its only advantages over Kia’s all-electric EV9 are its price and range.

Having spent extensive time in both the 2025 Telluride and a 2024 Kia EV9 (which is one of our long-term test vehicles), I prefer the EV9. Even excluding the relative quickness of the EV9’s all-electric powertrain, that assessment still holds true. The EV9 has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, while the Telluride still relies on a wired connection for smartphone projection. More frustratingly, the wired connection comes through a USB-A port, and we’re now several generations of smartphone removed from the last time the included charging and data cable had a USB-A connection. When trying to connect my iPhone, I had to try several cables before the car recognized the connection. The nearby USB-C charging-only port exists just to rub it in, I guess.

The Telluride is also less enjoyable to drive, at least in the X-Pro configuration. I had hoped that its smaller 18-inch wheels and all-terrain tires would produce a more comfortable ride on pavement, like many other off-road-oriented vehicles, but that was not the case. Not only are pavement impacts annoyingly harsh, but the tires make the Telluride’s steering feel numb and cause the SUV to wander within its lane.

Buyers will likely pay less for a Telluride than an EV9; the top Telluride SX-Prestige’s price tag falls just below the base rear-wheel-drive EV9’s. Just as importantly, the Telluride is better suited to one of a three-row SUV’s main purposes: the family road trip. While it might be less roomy, the Telluride can go significantly farther than an EV9 before refueling — and as of this writing (and for the foreseeable future), refueling a gas-powered vehicle on a road trip is still easier and faster than charging an electric vehicle. For shorter around-town trips, though, I prefer the EV9.