Honda Pilot vs Kia Telluride

The

pilot

allows me to do that and this great visibility in the Telluride, so it's not that you absolutely need a 360 camera system, but it's helpful when the road gets a little tight, the x-pro also rises four tenths of a inch. versus a normal rear ride and four tenths of an inch does matter and the car's suspension totally does, but there are no other changes to the suspension, so it's okay, it's moving the traction control is figuring out things to determine the power, that's good, unlike light roads, light snow. that's really all you need but frankly if you say you have an older Telluride or you can't get this x-pro you could buy any Telluride and put an off road kit in it you would have the same car the driver feels as a luxury vehicle, it feels more like an Acura MDX because it's that quiet, even with these off-road Continentals, they have the exact same tire and type, right down to the lettering on the sidewall, the same tire as the Kia, this one It just has the fit really better.

I could be fooled into thinking this was the Pilot Elite or the Touring with the standard All Seasons riding on larger wheels. It just feels like it's no different. That's great. It's really almost every vehicle I drive on every terrain you can. I immediately feel the difference with that tread in both noise and steering feel, it's not overwhelming but it's always there and this rider it's like the engineers have just muted it, smoothed it out to almost where it's non-existent with this new Honda rider. They've made improvements everywhere as you'd expect, so it's safer, the whole body is stiffer, they've changed the steering, they've changed the suspension in every way imaginable, so nothing is really transferable if it is, They made a change, so right there, for starters, it's already a much newer vehicle than the Telluride.

Telluride is good, but the bottom line here I'm going to say is that it feels a little more solid to me right now, so there are some new driving modes for 2023, including sport, which kind of makes it a bit of a Civic SI because the Dashboard and steering wheel feel very dull like smaller Honda cars and even much of the steering feels like the weight definitely squeezes in your hand when you're doing sports, of course there is I don't get much of a feeling of off-centering, but compared to In the Kia I feel like I have a little more control.

I like that the previous rider just didn't have the same level of Honda suspension and handling tuning. I didn't think I had it. This one is now tighter, it just feels more direct to the road, it feels like one of Honda's cars more than their SUVs. I think that's where they really needed to go and they've actually delivered a very nice progressive pedal feel, maybe it's just the mileage on this rider compared to the Telluride but I like to feel better. Honda made a lot of improvements to this V6 now, there's five more horsepower and you won't notice that means this V6 will last longer through stricter emissions. laws, that's pretty good because this V6 as it is is pretty simple, there's no hybrid, there's no turbo, which means that in the long run, no matter how good those systems are, it's probably going to last longer and cost you less to run because the

pilot

has a speed of 10. two more gears in the Telluride and it is one more gear than the previous pilot, well the response times are much better, so in normal mode it does not increase much, it feels more like a Mercedes- Benz when you are in Comfort mode. but if you change this to sport, it's an incredible jump, but the gears change faster than before, even when you use the paddles.

Which the Telluride doesn't have. I'm surprised, but I've driven the previous pilot several times and other vehicles with those nine. speed transmission made by ZF was not Honda, now it is a Honda transmission and it is much better as the response time between fourth and fifth gear there is no longer a delay like there used to be, yes it is much better than before and it is a better transmission than the Telluride's the mid range acceleration is much improved over the previous rider it's definitely better than the Telluride those four lower gears really come into play and while it's crazy to say you have a 10 speed transmission the fact is that those lower gears are always more available and then on the highway, going at higher speeds, the engine is actually spinning at a very slow RPM, it's like you know, at 80 miles per hour you could be doing about 2000 RPM, like this That saves fuel, but the response is better and I think Honda also quieted the engine a little more, as there doesn't seem to be as much vibration or harshness as I remember, because I remember this V6 was a little harsh, especially for a Honda. power plant, but they have solved it, yes, much better.

Honda Detection comes standard on all drivers and that includes lane centering, includes adaptive cruise control. Honda had this for years. I remember trying this on Acuras in 2014, even before, the system is one of the first and one of the best, so the last time I participated in a trail sport was a year ago, it was the passport, which is the shorter version of the pilot, and I whined, I complained because Honda didn't do anything other than add new tires. they didn't and even the rider had a little higher lift than before but now they've gone in and changed everything so the suspension is different, the sway bars are different, there's a full one inch lift and two big skid plates , one of which protects the engine. and the transmission in the front and another in the fuel tank and even the skid plate in the front has a built-in recovery hook so it's meant to run straight out of the box Plus compared to the Telluride when things When they get tough, this trail sport is really going to go further because you can direct up to 70 percent of the torque and that rear axle instead of just 50 50 and then say, you know you lose a rear wheel, or it's up in the air. or you're sliding fine, the software logic will automatically distribute torque to the wheel you're gripping, but will still transfer torque to the other wheel you're spinning, so when you return to the ground the power is basically uninterrupted.

These are good tricks because there is no low range transfer. In the case of these SUVs, Honda has actually done something here and that is torque vectoring, so torque vectoring mechanically shifts that torque left and right, which in many ways mimics a limited slip differential. everywhere if you're talking about off-road equipment. a family SUV, the pilot trail sport is fulfilling that mission perfectly, the Telluride x-pro, not so much the 2023 Honda Pilot starts at 39,150 for the sport now the base LX is not available to order at this time, but it will cheaper, the Telluride starts at 35,890 and goes up, the Kia is not really a value play anymore, it is already $55,365 with the equipped version, while the Honda is 50 hundred and fifty dollars now.

If you didn't have this top Prestige trim, the Kia would be even more so. more expensive than the Honda, not sure where the key is going with these prices, the Telluride is very popular, but look at all the competition, this new pilot, the Toyota Highlander, the Ford Explorer, there are so many good options in a Midsize SUV and the Kia is just as great. Since the price bothers me, then where does this end? Frankly, it now begins and ends with the Honda. As much as I love the KIA Telluride, it was great when it went on sale in 2019 and make no mistake, it's still an exceptional model. vehicle but right now in 2023 this vehicle is much more expensive for what you get it has better technology I will admit that but the Honda has the better chassis better seating driving position feels like a more cohesive vehicle . on and off road, and that's the point of buying either of these two off-road versions, which is why I think Honda is the clear winner, not by a little but by a lot, when Kia launches an all-new Telluride.

They have some chassis and transmission components to upgrade, particularly the engine and transmission. I think they will, but I take my hat off to Honda for this one. What do you think? Do you agree with me if not? Let us know in the comments and tell us what you want us to review next go to cargurus.com subscribe see you next time