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What We Tested

in's seats and heated third-row seats, among other things, ours rang in at $60,210. Toyota offers multiple hybrids in the Grand Highlander lineup, but our preference is for this most powerful Hybrid Max, which combines a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder with two electric motors to make 362 horsepower. The Hybrid Max starts at $57,285, but ours was a top-trim Platinum that landed at $64,272. While these two are bigger and heavier than ever, the Telluride scores 31 mpg EPA combined fuel economy and the Highlander 27 mpg, so why not live large?

Exterior and Interior

It's immediately clear that design was a top priority in the Telluride's makeover, and Kia really went the extra mile on the interior. First off, the materials are top-notch and genuinely luxurious, and they wouldn't feel out of place on a luxury-branded three-row SUV. The design is ambitious, too, such as the trim elements on the dash that carry through to the doors. And it comes in bold color options, such as our test car's two-tone purple over beige. We generally like the exterior, too, but there are a few angles that give us pause, such as staring into the busy black-plastic grille.

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Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid

HIGHS: Strong powertrain and acceleration, far more cargo space than the Telluride.
LOWS: Relatively dowdy interior design and materials, fewer features and options.
VERDICT: Quick and practical, but not as luxurious as the Telluride.

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The Telluride is as bold as the Grand Highlander is plain. But there's nothing wrong with plain and, unlike with the Kia, the Toyota's exterior design prompted zero heated debates among our evaluators. Inside, though, the Grand Highlander's materials are clearly a cut below, and the uniform-black design of our test car's interior is dressed up by a few bronze accents and little else. Overall, it falls way short of the Telluride's luxury environs. If this matters to you, the choice is clear.

Both of these are on the big end of the segment, and we rated their lounge-worthy second-row space to be a dead heat. But the Telluride's third row is more adult accommodating than the Grand Highlander's, and the heated seats back there are an upscale touch too.

As big as these mid-sizers are, if you want to haul three rows of people, plus cargo, the space behind the third row is still not a strong suit. If you plan to do this a lot, we suggest a minivan or a hitch-mounted cargo carrier. But in our cargo testing, the Grand Highlander comes out significantly ahead, fitting seven carry-on-sized boxes behind the third row, two more than the Telluride. (But a Kia Carnival minivan holds twice as many as the Grand Highlander.)

Both SUVs come with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, but the Telluride's infotainment reaches much further with built-in dash-cam functionality; Netflix, YouTube, and Disney+ streaming; and even an option to open your myQ-compatible garage door automatically as you approach. Despite being packed to the brim with features, we still find the Kia's infotainment to be logically laid out and relatively easy to navigate.

Powertrain and Performance

With a 5.8-second sprint to 60 mph, the Grand Highlander smokes just about anything else in the segment, while the Telluride is down near the segment average with a 6.4-second result. But perhaps more telling is that the Grand Highlander is nearly a full second quicker in the 30-to-50-mph passing test, which speaks to its ever-present urgency. Maybe you don't think straight-line performance is important in a family hauler, but you quickly get spoiled by the ready power and won't want to go back.

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Kia Telluride Hybrid

HIGHS: High-style exterior, genuinely luxurious interior, quiet and refined, tons of second- and third-row space.
LOWS: A couple of awkward exterior details, a lot heavier and less wieldy than before.
VERDICT: An impressive and comprehensive redo of the original smash-hit Telluride.

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The Telluride's hybrid system sometimes switches off the engine when cruising at 50 or 60 mph, and it returned 28 mpg in our highway fuel-economy loop at a steady 75 mph. While that's four mpg below its EPA highway label, it's a mile per gallon better than the Grand Highlander in the same test, and among the best in the segment.

Driving Experience

When cruising at 70 mph, the Grand Highlander's cabin measures just 67 decibels of noise; that matches the far more expensive Lincoln Navigator. The Telluride comes in one decibel higher, but both are great at blanketing you and yours in relative quietude, which can make a big difference in comfort when eating up lots of miles.

The Toyota leans into its powerful powertrain with an artificial low rumble sound piped into the cabin—our opinions on this were split; some liked it while others found it cheesy—while the Kia pretty much just goes for quietness. The Telluride's four-cylinder engine doesn't sound great—most inline-fours don't—but the noise is well isolated.

The Telluride is built for luxury, with syrupy ride motions and a decent amount of float. It drives much bigger and heavier than before, and it is a lot heavier, weighing some 600 pounds more than the previous generation, with this hybrid version adding roughly 250 pounds over the gas-only version. Nevertheless, it still has a Sport mode, which makes the steering effort artificially heavy. Who is looking for a Sport mode in this class anyway? The Grand Highlander is slightly more buttoned down but still well isolated. Even though the Toyota feels a touch more dynamic from behind the wheel, the Kia wins in braking and maximum-cornering performance. If not for thrills, that makes it better at accident avoidance. Both have solid brake-pedal feel, which can often be a bugaboo in hybrids that have to juggle electric regenerative braking and that from the brakes themselves when you hit the pedal.

And the Winner Is . . .

While the Grand Highlander is the clear winner in acceleration and cargo space, the Telluride's comprehensive luxurious interior, functional space, solid performance with fuel economy that's excellent for the class, and a price that comes in lower than the Grand Highlander's made it a unanimous decision for the Kia.

Specifications

Specifications

2027 Kia Telluride SX Prestige Hybrid AWD
Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-motor, all-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 4-door wagon

PRICE
Base/As Tested: $58,135/$60,210
Options: Executive package (front-seat power leg rests with Relaxation mode, second-row 6-way power captain's chairs with Relaxation mode, heated outboard third-row seats), $1200; Towing package, $625; carpeted floor mats, $250

POWERTRAIN
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.5-liter inline-4, 258 hp, 260 lb-ft + 2 AC motors, 17 and 72 hp, 75 and 199 lb-ft (combined output: 329 hp, 339 lb-ft; lithium-ion battery pack)
Transmission: 6-speed automatic

CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 13.6-in vented disc/12.8-in vented disc
Tires: Kumho Majesty X Solus
255/50R-20 109V M+S

DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 116.9 in
Length: 199.2 in
Width: 78.3 in
Height: 69.9 in
Passenger Volume, F/M/R: 59/56/36 ft3
Cargo Volume, Behind F/M/R: 88/48/21 ft3
Curb Weight: 5047 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 6.4 sec
1/4-Mile: 14.9 sec @ 95 mph
100 mph: 16.3 sec
130 mph: 37.5 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.4 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 6.8 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 3.5 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 4.3 sec
Top Speed (C/D est): 135 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 176 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.81 g

Interior Sound
Idle: 28 dBA/1 sone
Full Throttle: 71 dBA
70-mph Cruising: 68 dBA/23 sone

C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 25 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 28 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 500 mi

EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 31/30/32 mpg

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Specifications

2026 Toyota Grand Highlander Platinum Hybrid Max
Vehicle Type: front-engine, front- and rear-motor, all-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 4-door wagon

PRICE
Base/As Tested: $61,370/$64,272
Options: running boards, $799; illuminated door sills, $395; all-weather floor liners and cargo tray, $378; illuminated cargo sill, $345; cross bars, $325; connected services trial offering, $325; logo side-puddle lamps, $175; mudguards, $160 

POWERTRAIN
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter inline-4, 265 hp, 332 lb-ft + 2 AC motors, 86 and 102 hp, 215 and 124 lb-ft (combined output: 362 hp, 400 lb-ft; nickel-metal hydride battery pack)
Transmissions: 6-speed automatic/direct-drive

CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 13.4-in vented disc/13.3-in vented disc
Tires: Yokohama Geolander X-CV
255/55R-20 107V M+S

DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 116.1 in
Length: 201.4 in
Width: 78.3 in
Height: 70.1 in
Passenger Volume, F/M/R: 58/52/39 ft3
Cargo Volume, Behind F/M/R: 98/58/21 ft3
Curb Weight: 4979 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 5.8 sec
1/4-Mile: 14.5 sec @ 96 mph
100 mph: 15.9 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.4 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 6.3 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.8 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 4.4 sec
Top Speed (gov ltd): 118 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 187 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.78 g

Interior Sound
Idle: 26 dBA/1 sone
Full Throttle: 75 dBA
70-mph Cruising: 67 dBA/21 sone 

C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 23 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 27 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 460 mi 

EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 27/26/27 mpg  

C/D TESTING EXPLAINED

Dave VanderWerp has spent more than 20 years in the automotive industry, in varied roles from engineering to product consulting, and now leading Car and Driver's vehicle-testing efforts. Dave got his very lucky start at C/D by happening to submit an unsolicited resume at just the right time to land a part-time road warrior job when he was a student at the University of Michigan, where he immediately became enthralled with the world of automotive journalism.