Big Hearts
June 4, 2026
Alex KiersteinThe Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride somewhat belie their size, and their downsized turbo motors outdo the old and outmoded V6.
The Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride have together, carved out an esoteric and interesting niche in the big-body SUV category. Not near-luxury where Buick and Acura spar, but something like extra-stylish, content-rich normality. Suburban parent with a reality show makeover kind of stuff. Both have done quite well on both the fronts that matter: sales and observer perception. That’s despite having been almost anachronistic in other respects; a thirsty V6* that delivered low-20-mpg combined numbers, 1990s Suburban-rivaling curb weight, et cetera.
*More on the now-departed V6 in a minute.
I appreciated the first-generation SUVs. I saw why the accolades and consumer interest were both so strong. But I didn’t necessarily like them, because, as I’m keenly aware, I’m not an Average Consumer.
I like things that do a specific job very well, an economy of utility, highly specialized vehicles. A pure sports car is this. So are single cab trucks with giant beds, tiny hatchbacks with no automatic transmission option, stupid-looking European vans with exceptional versatility. Reviewing cars requires knowing your proclivities and being able to pack them up like a Motocompo when you’re doing the job. You might be driving a CX-5 and wishing it was a Renault Kangoo, but you’re going to review the CX-5 on its merits, for the mainstream consumer. It’s the job.
With all the SUVs (and one truck) at the Northwest Automotive Press Association Mudfest lined up at the start of the event, reviewers moved towards the most compelling first. It’s a natural process that happens organically, like osmosis. I hung back and let folks beeline for the Lucid Gravity and Wrangler 392, to see what was left. The Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade were two of a few vehicles that didn’t get snagged on the first go. I hopped into the Palisade, intending to use it to set a baseline for the event.
Not overtly sporty, not overtly off-road-oriented. Cushy, normcore. It’d be fine, I thought. I was worried about high-centering it on the breakover parts of the low-key offroad course, but that wouldn’t be an issue. (The Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT would be the only car that notably scraped, which makes sense. It’s almost as far on the car end of the crossover spectrum as you can get, tiny lift or not.)
And I don’t know if I forgot, or never bothered to learn, but I wasn’t thinking much about what was under the hood. I either assumed it was the V6 or knew, vaguely, it was the downsized turbo 2.5, but these are not enthusiast vehicles, and it’s still possible to look up anything on the internet and find a real answer (a little harder now). I’ll be damned if the turbo isn’t a seamless V6 stand-in. Hopefully it will be a less problematic engine over the long-term than the troublesome Theta motors of yore, I still hesitate to recommend turbo Hyundai/Kia models in general.
Like the Subaru EVs, the most telling part of the two-day experience was a short segment of the off-road course, a rutted, lumpy grass road that could induce the sort of head toss that makes chiropractors salivate. The two were, hands down, the most comfortable of all of the vehicles that I took out there. I had no traction issues, no clearance issues, no lack of power, and got the sort of ride quality that may have staved off motion sickness in those so cursed.
Out of a range of vehicles which had only cursory, obligatory off-road capabilities, I think these two were the ones I’d pick. Imagine the use case: 99% of the time, these vehicles will be on the road. But say you’re pulling the boat to the lake and there’s a rough forest road in between you and the trout. Or the campsite. Or the cabin. Not scrambling over boulders or logs; picking through puddles and bumping over washboard. Weekend warrior stuff, if that. AirBNB warrior, probably.
Not casting shade. You don’t want more than that. Ever driven a Wrangler on a windy mountain pass in the dark? White knuckle stuff. You, person to whom comfort and convenience is desirable, who has never worried about crushing a sill on a boulder, ignore the highly specialized stuff and get an all-rounder. Get a Telluride, or a Palisade … flip a coin, if you want.
That said, between the two, the Telluride looks absolutely fantastic. I love the Palisade’s retro vibe, but the Telluride pulls off a coup of sorts. You’d think that being somewhere in the visual neighborhood of the the overall ultra-modern Range Rovers would result in “Temu Land Rover” snide remarks, but it honestly works in its own right. Might be better-looking than the Range Rover itself. It has presence, visual heft, without seeming like discount luxury.
I was charmed, which seemed strange. Charmed by two massive, style-first twins that do a lot well without much compromise. And more so than their predecessors. The sequels are both better. Go figure.
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