2020 Kia Telluride vs 2021 Chevrolet Traverse

The 2020 Kia Telluride was a significant departure from Kia's previous designs, which often carried a reputation for being adequate but not exceptional. The Telluride, however, presented a more upscale appearance, with a design that seemed more expensive than its actual price. The vehicle featured a boxy presence reminiscent of a big Chevy, combined with the fluid curves of a new Volvo. The front was defined by upright, rectilinear themes, wide-spaced vertical headlights, and a silver mesh grille. The shoulder line along the vehicle's side gently protruded, similar to the XC90. The Telluride's clean, minimal design was expected to age well, with special details like LED running lights that doubled as turn signals and thin taillights echoing hockey sticks. Inside, the Telluride's interior was reminiscent of a Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, with features like twin grab handles, wide air vents, an ultra-wide touchscreen, and matte wood. The fit, quality, and colors were tasteful and classy, making the interior an inviting place. The SX-trim test vehicle with the Prestige Package added Nappa leather seats and a soft headliner, giving the impression of a much more expensive vehicle.

The 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, in contrast, relied heavily on styling details to give individual trim levels their own identities. The exterior was a generic SUV design with a tall roof, chunky wheel arches, and a big grille. While this design was cleaner and more handsome than some competitors, it lacked the personality of the Ford Explorer and Kia Telluride. The Traverse's restrained styling emphasized the cosmetic elements keyed to different trim levels, with options like blacked-out trim for the RS model and chrome for the High Country model. The Traverse shared a basic platform with the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Cadillac XT6, but aimed for a more blue-collar feel. The interior featured a restrained design, with the standout feature being an optional Dual SkyScape two-panel sunroof. Materials in the higher-level RS tester were fairly good, but not quite worthy of the car's roughly $50,000 MSRP. The Traverse's interior storage options were limited, typical of midsize three-row crossovers.

The 2020 Kia Telluride came with a single engine: a 3.8-liter V6 producing 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. This power was routed through an 8-speed automatic transmission to either the front wheels or all four wheels, with AWD being a $2,000 option. Despite the power, the response was sometimes delayed and inconsistent, and the shifting felt rougher compared to competitors. However, the power was sufficient to move the Telluride's two-and-a-quarter tons quickly. The braking was strong with a firm pedal feel, but the steering was slow, and there was noticeable body lean. The ride was smooth, aided by double-paned glass and acoustic insulation. The Telluride had a towing capacity of 5,000 pounds with the $795 Towing package and an EPA-estimated fuel economy of 19 mpg city, 24 highway, and 21 combined.

The 2021 Chevrolet Traverse was powered by a 3.6-liter V6 engine producing 310 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque, paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission. While the powertrain didn't feel particularly strong off the line, it provided sufficient grunt for highway merging and overtaking. The nine-speed automatic performed well overall, with occasional rough shifts. The Traverse impressed with its highway road manners, combining a quiet cabin and bump-absorbing suspension with good body control and precise steering. However, it lacked agility on twistier roads. The AWD system, which had to be manually activated, could send up to 50% of torque to either front wheel or 85% to either rear wheel, but the torque vectoring wasn't noticeable. The Traverse had a towing capacity of 5,000 pounds and offered off-road and tow/haul drive modes.

The 2020 Kia Telluride could seat seven or eight passengers, depending on the trim. The base LX and third-tier EX seated eight, while the second-tier S offered eight as a $100 option. The S and top SX seated seven, with reclining captain's chairs in the second row. The SX trim added heating and cooling for the second-row seats, manual side-window shades, and a third climate zone. All trims had air vents on the ceiling, USB ports, and cupholders for passengers in the second and third rows. The second row offered generous legroom, and the third row was tolerable for a 6-foot adult. Cargo capacity was 21 cubic feet with all seats raised and 87 cubic feet with them all flat. The Telluride featured analog gauges, buttons, knobs, and a regular PRNDL shifter, complemented by two displays: a 3.5-inch for the instrument panel and an 8-inch screen for the dash. EX and SX models had a 10.3-inch screen and a 7-inch screen for the instrument panel.

The 2021 Chevrolet Traverse offered seating for seven or eight, depending on whether you opted for a second-row bench seat or captain’s chairs. Headroom and legroom in all three rows were above average but not segment-leading. Heated front seats were standard on the Traverse RS tester, with ventilated front seats and heated outboard rear seats available on higher trim levels. The Traverse had a significant advantage in cargo space, with 23.0 cubic feet with all three rows in place, 57.8 cubic feet with the third row stowed, and 98.2 cubic feet with all rear seats folded. A power liftgate was optional on the LT Cloth trim level and standard on higher trims, with a gesture-activated liftgate on the Premier and High Country models. The Traverse was fairly stingy on interior storage options, typical of midsize three-row crossovers.

The 2020 Kia Telluride came standard with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Kia's UVO link, which allowed remote location and unlocking via an app. A proximity key was standard, and upper trims with navigation had fast and accurate voice inputs for destinations. The system could search online like Google Maps, but the lack of onboard WiFi was an odd shortcoming. The SX trim featured a live feed of the left or right blind spot on the instrument cluster, Highway Driving Assist, a quiet mode, and an intercom for the third row. The SX also had bright LED headlights, dual moonroofs, and a Harman Kardon surround stereo. The standard 6-speaker stereo was less impressive.

The 2021 Chevrolet Traverse's standard infotainment system included a 7-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and Bluetooth. Higher trims offered an 8-inch touchscreen, navigation, a 4G-LTE WiFi hotspot, and a Bose 10-speaker audio system. The 8-inch screen in the Traverse RS test car was easy to use, with large smartphone-like icons. The Traverse retained analog controls for audio volume and climate control. The Traverse also featured a rearview camera mirror and an optional HD surround-view camera system. Chevy provided 2 USB ports for each row as standard, with wireless phone charging standard on the Premier and High Country models.

The 2020 Kia Telluride had not been crash-tested by the NHTSA or IIHS at the time of writing, but it was expected to receive top scores. The Telluride came standard with active driver assists, including forward-collision alert with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and automatic braking, lane-keep assist, a driver-attention monitor, and adaptive cruise control. Safe Exit Assist was also standard, preventing passengers from opening the rear doors if an approaching vehicle or object was detected. Surround-view cameras and front parking sensors were optional.

The 2021 Chevrolet Traverse received top "Good" scores in all IIHS crash tests and a "Superior" rating for front-crash prevention tech. However, it received "Acceptable" and "Poor" headlight ratings and an "Acceptable" rating for LATCH child-seat anchor ease of use. The NHTSA gave the Traverse a five-star overall safety rating, with four stars in frontal and rollover crash tests and five stars in side-impact crash tests. Chevy offered less standard driver-assist tech than competitors, with features like adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, forward-collision warning, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, automatic high beams, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert being optional extras.