So, when the Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade hit the U.S market, they made major waves. Now it’s been about 4 years since then and these siblings continue to push luxury boundaries and sell in droves. But there’s always been the long-standing question of which one is the best pick to buy, which is only getting tougher to decide with the introduction of new Palisade Calligraphy Night Edition. So today, let’s put the 2024 Kia Telluride vs. Hyundai Palisade in a battle! Be sure to watch the video below for a full visual comparison!
Pricing and Equipment
So, like always, let’s set the stage here by discussing our trim levels and prices.
Let’s start with the new Palisade Calligraphy Night Edition, which adds to the top Calligraphy model, as you would expect. Because this is now the flagship of Palisade lineup, the price is richer as well, at over $55 grand as tested.
MSRP (Calligraphy Night Edition AWD): $53,600 | Options: $215 | Destination: $1,335 | Total: $55,150
Now moving to the Telluride, its top model is known as the SX Prestige X-Pro, which is what we have today for equivalent features and style. This also keeps its price tag right in line with the Palisade Night, at 45 dollars over 55k.
MSRP (SX Prestige X-Pro AWD): $53,185 | Options: $495 | Destination: $1,365 | Total: $55,045
By the way, if you want to get the best price from local dealerships and access to invoice pricing info for these two models or any vehicle, we have a tool on our website to do just that. Check the link in the description for more info.
Now as far as this comparison, it will be conducted objectively. We have done our best to weigh the points awarded throughout in major and minor categories, but at the end of the comparison we will sum up with our thoughts and revisit the tiny price difference for a value assessment. With that being said, let’s get into it!
Exterior Design
Starting with the exteriors, for those of you who don’t already know, these two are related to each other and share a lot mechanically, but as far as the visuals, you really wouldn’t pick up on that at all.
Both models underwent design refreshes last year, which slightly modified their looks but didn’t mess with success, by-and-large. While the X-Pro Telluride darkens and toughens up some elements, the Palisade Night Edition really stands out with its fully black finish on everything, which looks very menacing on this all black tester.
The headlights also look very dissimilar, but ultimately both of them are full-LED in all parts, plus the Telluride even has LED fog lamps.
Checking out the sides, they are pretty much the same length, but the wheels are smaller 18-inchers on the Telluride vs. 20’s on the Palisade (). That does have a reason, which we will talk about in just a second.
Length: 196.7-in (Palisade) | 196.9-in (Telluride)
Around back, this is the only area where you can almost see the tiniest semblance of relation to each other since they have similar-looking vertical LED taillights, their names spelled out across the back, and dual exhausts that are mounted on the right side. Even the Night Edition Palisade keeps chrome tipping on the exhaust outlets, and both of them have incandescent reverse lights separated from the main housing.
Additional Features
Now as we move on the individual features, there are some differences with the mirrors. Both are heated with blind spot monitoring, but only the Telluride’s power fold () and only the Palisades have auto-dimming.
Now in addition to the blind spot monitoring systems, both Hyundai and Kia give you their entire suites of active safety systems as standard equipment. One cool Hyundai advantage is the smart parking system, which can pull into and out of tight parking spots unmanned.
They both also come equipped with the longest warranty in the business; 5yr/60k mi basic and 10yr/100k mi powertrain warranties. However, only Hyundai includes 3 years of complimentary maintenance.
Now when it comes to towing, the X-Pro Telluride has a 500 lb advantage, and is able to handle 5,500 lbs.
And this would also be a good time to circle back and acknowledge that the X-Pro does add some off-road chops above what is offered on Palisade, such as increased ground clearance, better approach and departure angles, and all-terrain tires.
But the real excitement comes when we get inside the luxurious cabins.
Interior Design
So, walking up to the vehicles, both models have smart entry systems, remote start, and available phone-as-key.
And after you use any of those methods to open up the doors, you’ll find out that the interior designs look just as different as the exteriors. The common element is that both of them look very upscale for mainstream brands, and indeed you do find a lot of things that most in the class don’t offer.
For example, the seats, which are made from high-end quilted nappa leather on both… at least usually. The Night Edition of the Palisade actually substitutes out the nappa leather for a suede seat instead, which is not quite as premium and certainly a lot hotter than the Telluride’s seats.
Regardless, both seats are heated, ventilated, 14-way power adjusting and have memory on board, but only the Palisade includes power massage.
Now once fully inside the cabins, you can begin to take in just how luxurious they are. The Telluride uses a mixture of stitched soft touch plastic, very realistic faux wood trim, and then covers the center console and the signature handle bars in Nappa leather. Likewise, the Palisade also has a soft touch upper dash, nice trim and leather console, but what puts it over the edge is that it has additional quilted leather on the door trim as well as real metal speaker grilles.
After startup, you’ll see two fully digital gauge clusters, something the Telluride added during its refresh. They’re both 12.3-inches, change design with the drive modes, and have blind spot camera systems. Up top, we also have head up displays.
Coming back to the steering wheels, both are leather wrapped, heated and manual adjusting.
Storage and Technology
Next up we have the very important aspect of storage, where the Hyundai is definitely one the best in the class. That’s certainly not to say that the Kia is bad since it still has ample storage space, but the Palisade adds another large reconfigurable storage bin in front of the main center console and has a center passthrough space that the Telluride does not have.
That center pass through is made possible by the Palisade’s use of an electronic shifter. If that’s a worthwhile trade or if you prefer the traditional shifter in the Telluride is a matter of personal preference, but when you shift into reverse, both have 360-degree camera systems with the latest 3D graphics.
Moving up the dash, we have easy-to-use 3-zone automatic climate controls, before we come to the volume knobs for the Harmon Kardon audio systems. Let’s take a sound sample. I’m not really sure why they have different speaker counts, but regardless sound equally nice.
Telluride: 630-watt, 10-speaker Harmon Kardon Premium Audio
Palisade: 630-watt, 12-speaker Harmon Kardon Premium Audio
And now that brings us to the infotainment systems. Both are rocking 12.3-inch displays, and while the brands skin the software graphics somewhat differently, the infotainment system is fundamentally the same between them. Features-wise, they have built in navigation, passenger intercom systems, as well as AA and ACP, via a wired connection only.
And lastly up front, the last things to mention up front are that both have new smart rear camera mirrors with HomeLink, premium Alcantara headliners and dual panel panoramic moonroofs.
Rear Seats and Cargo
Alright, now it’s time to dig into the equally important rear seats and cargo areas. Starting with the 2nd row measurements, as you would expect, they do share identical dimensions, and both are on the larger size of the segment.
Legroom: 42.4-inches | Headroom: 40.2-inches
All the luxury from the front thankfully doesn’t stop in the rear. These models have sunshades, rear climate controls, 2 charging USB ports, and a household outlet. Telluride and Palisade were also the first mainstream 3-row SUVs to feature not just heated but also ventilated rear seats on their top trims. Neither of these two can get bench seating on the top trims, so they will seat 7 passengers.
Moving on to the 3rd row of seats, where the other 3 people will be sitting, you’ll find a surprising level of comfort. Even though many of you guys may only plan to have small children back there, you can seat adults in relative comfort with good leg and headroom measurements. 3rd row access is easy, and they have plenty of shared features like dedicated vents and charging USB ports, but only the Palisade has class-exclusive 3rd row heated seats.
Now moving around to the rear, both have smart opening tailgates, and once they open up, you’ll find very large cargo areas. Once again, they are pretty much evenly matched besides for a 3-cu.ft Telluride advantage for the area behind the 3rd row.
Palisade: 18.0 cubic feet behind 3rd row | 45.8 cubic feet behind 2nd row | 86.4 cubic feet max
Telluride: 21.0 cubic feet behind 3rd row | 46 cubic feet behind 2nd row | 87 MAX cubic feet
That size disadvantage is probably due to the fact that the Hyundai’s third row is power folding, however. One last thing to mention is that the X-Pro Telly comes with a household power outlet for tailgating or whatever recreational activity you need it for.
Alrighty, so that it for the interiors, but now let’s take this fight to the streets!
Powertrains
While most things you can see are quite different between these two models, what you cannot see is much more similar. That starts with the platforms and continues to the powertrains, which are both the same 3.8L V-6 engine, rated at 291 and 262 lb.ft of torque, the same 8-speed automatic transmission and AWD system. Acceleration is very much class competitive, and many of you guys may prefer the smooth power delivery and refined sound of a V-6 vs. the turbo 4 cylinders that are taking over many other options in the segment.
Test Drive and Fuel Economy
As you would expect, the driving dynamics are also very similar, and both are excellent. They have precise and light-but-nicely weighted steering setups. Maneuverable is also quite good and we like that they feel smaller than their exterior measurements suggest.
There are tiny discrepancies in ride quality though. The Palisade is few percent softer and the Telluride a few percent tighter in terms of control. But again, we wouldn’t consider this a big difference.
It’s also important to have serene environments free of loud noises, and both of them models do a good job here, even though the Telluride does the better job. At 54.5 dB, the Kia achieved a measurement in line with many luxury SUV’s we test out.
Telluride: 54.5 dB @ 55 MPH
Palisade: 56.4 dB @ 55 MPH
And finally, for fuel economy, the Palisade gets a slightly better rating of 21 combined, although that’s not a big enough difference to score a point. Neither of them off hybrid or plug-in hybrid variants at this time to improve MPG’s.
Palisade AWD: 19/24/21 MPG
Telluride AWD: 18/24/20 MPG
2024 Kia Telluride vs. Hyundai Palisade, close call!
Well, that’s it for another super close comparison! Since 2020, it’s been a heck of a decision to pick between these two, and as new trims and feature updates roll out each year, the decision just keeps getting harder! Let’s summarize a bit so you can pick your personal winner:
Palisade:
- Somewhat better cabin materials
- Third row features (power-fold and heating)
- Auto-dimming mirrors
- Extra front storage
Telly:
- Ability to get a more off-road focused trim (X-Pro)
- Power-folding mirrors
- More cargo space behind 3rd row
- Quieter sound level reading
Now we want to know your opinions, so make sure to head to the comment section and let us know which one you would pick! Thanks for joining us for another Car Confections comparison! Be sure to watch the full video below for all the details!
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