KIA Family Fight! 2027 Kia Telluride vs. Kia Carnival: 3-Row Comparison

What's going on YouTube? Kia has a large lineup of vehicles including a couple for people with large families or a lot of stuff. Those of course are the Telluride SUV and the Carnival minivan or MPV as Kia likes to call it. And despite the stereotypes typically associated with minivans, most of the time they do offer more practicality and family-friendly features as compared to an equivalent SUV. So is that the case here or is the stylish Telluride just as practical? Well that's what we're gonna dive into in today's comparison. Of the many variants offered, we're looking at the fully decked out trims of these models today. Both called SX Prestige and both priced in a very similar way. If you're looking to buy one, make sure to check out carconfections.com slash new car quotes to get the best price and access to invoice pricing information. So starting with the exteriors, the family resemblance between these two is pretty noticeable as they both are sporting bold versions of Kia's latest Opposites United design theme. The Carnival has a short hood and a sleeker look while the Telluride has a more boxy shape that is so popular these days. We're curious to see which one you all prefer in the comments below. While we won't be scoring those design elements, we will be scoring every feature difference here starting with the headlights. Here both come standard with projector LED units, amber daytime running lights, and even LED fog lamps. But the Telluride goes a step further with fancy animations as you approach. By the way, feel free to keep your own score along the way based on what's most important to you. For the wheels, the Telluride is rocking 20-inch alloys while the Carnival is one inch smaller in 19s, both with a gloss black finish. However, length-wise that reverses with the Carnival being about four inches longer. We'll talk about how that translates to interior space a little later in this comparison. For now, we have spoilers, hidden wipers, and hidden exhaust outlets in the back. Both taillight units are largely LED, even though the Telluride is vertical and the stretches out horizontally across the back. Down at the bottom, the Carnival utilizes an incandescent reverse light. And the Telluride has a better setup for towing, handling 2,000 more pounds. Now let's talk about the mirrors, where the Telluride has another advantage. While both have heating, blind spot monitoring, and power folding, the Telluride further adds auto dimming on both sides. Past that, let's talk about safety, an important part of family vehicles. Both models include their entire active safety system suites as standard on all models. And these top trims further add Kia's Advanced Highway Drive Assist 2.0 for features like auto lane changing. Now it's time for us to get to the most important part, all the luxury and features on the inside. But first, if you're new here, we're brothers and we've been reviewing cars since we were 12 and 16. We started young and since then we've reviewed over 2,000 cars at every price point. No matter what you're looking for, from our long-term vehicle videos to our side-by-side comparisons, we'd love for you to subscribe to be a part of our car confections family. Let's learn a lot and have some fun with all the latest cars. Approaching them both, you'll find almost identical key fobs with Smart Entry and Remote Start built in. But the Telluride adds buttons for the Smart Park feature that can pull the car into and out of tight parking spots completely unmanned. Before getting inside, we'll point out the Telluride's new flush door handles that pop out on approach. Opening up the doors, you'll see some family resemblance, but also some key differences we'll discuss in a moment. One important difference to start with is the seating material, where the Telluride is only available with a faux leather in this new generation. While quite realistic feeling and durable, the Carnival still includes real leather on its SX Prestige trim, for those of you who prefer the genuine experience. While they share seat heating, ventilation, memory, and power adjustment, the Telluride goes above and beyond with massaging abilities and extra adjustments, including a full relaxation mode, which practically turns the seat into a lazy boy for some epic naps. Hopping inside, we can talk about the broad item of cabin quality, which will divide into solidity and material selection. Both models exhibit excellent fit and finish, with a solid feel and tight, even panel gaps. For materials used, the Telly will focus more on luxury here, with engineered wood trim throughout the cabin and a suede headliner. Both have leatherette padding over common touch points, but the Carnival is overall a bit more utilitarian in its material selections. After startup, you'll be greeted by 12.3 inch screens with plenty of customization. Both the Telluride and Carnival include a blind spot camera system, and these top trims also offer head-up displays. The steering wheels are nicely done, as they're leather wrapped and heated. The Telluride's wheel suffers from asymmetry, but to make up for that, it features power adjustment, a feature missing from the Carnival. Rain sensing wipers are also on both. But the next major subject to evaluate is interior storage, broken into both the console volume and the extra cubbies throughout. First, checking out the center consoles. The top Telluride trims offer a split console, meaning the front passengers can only access eight of our signature donuts. That's 10 less than the Carnival's console volume, a big difference up front. Beyond the consoles, though, they share plenty of additional cubbies and even center pass-through areas. They also share wireless phone charging pads, but the Telly adds an additional pad to keep your passenger charged up, too. To attain good storage space, they both utilize electronic shifters. And, in reverse, they have 360-degree cameras with 3D spin ability. Now let's move on to the three-zone climate systems both are equipped with, where they share mostly physical controls. However, the Carnival's climate knobs also function as audio controls, which adds a layer of complexity when you're trying to use them while driving. The Telluride has dedicated climate and audio knobs, as well as a separate 5-inch climate screen. Speaking of volume knobs, let's test out their audio systems. The Telluride's 14-speaker Meridian sound system has the quality advantage over the Carnival's 12-speaker Bose. Now to the screens, where they have 12.3-inch displays running the newest Kia CCNC software, which is one of the best performing systems in the mainstream space. They both include wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and integrated navigation. However, the Carnival adds in the family perks of a rear camera and intercom system to make sure the kids can't act up too much. Finishing up the front of the cabins, both include auto-dimming rearview mirrors with garage door openers and digital camera abilities. They also have dual panel panoramic moonroofs. However, the Carnival has the really rare ability to open up the back one in addition to the front one. But chances are you'll have family or friends in the back areas, so let's dive fully into those features. Before we hop inside, we must mention the Carnival's motion-sensing power sliding doors, a perk for choosing Team Minivan. For second-row seat space, both are quite large and neither has an advantage beyond the 5% threshold required to score a point. Beyond this space, the features will also be plentiful. As equipped, both models have the upgraded seating packages, which means they turn into truly first-class environments. I'm going to take a deep breath before I rattle off all of the features. Both have climate vents, USB ports, sunshades, seat heating, seat ventilation, and power seat adjustment with deployable ottomans. These are things you almost never see even in luxury vehicles. In addition, the Telluride makes up for its lack of front storage with a backseat table and storage cubby for family snacks. But the Carnival isn't done yet either, as it adds in a household outlet and dual entertainment screens. Let's move on to the third rows. Only the Telluride tilts the second row seats to retain the seatback angle, so that some child seats do not have to be removed. Once in the very back, the sizing finally comes into play, as the Carnival is the bigger of the two, with its legroom besting the Telluride by more than 10%. While the Telluride also has a comfortable third row, the Carnival is almost the same as sitting in the second row. For features, while both have vents, cup holders, and USBs, the Carnival also throws in sunshades, and the Telluride fights back with seat heating for the way back. Now on to the cargo spaces. Both have hands-free power tailgates as equipped, and when it comes to space, the Carnival has a massive space advantage over the Telluride. Between its minivan packaging and extra length, it has a whopping 61% advantage behind the third row, 58% behind the second row, and a 48% difference as a maximum capacity. Now there is a catch to the Carnival's extra space though, and that's that the figures do not account for the non-removable VIP seats. So while the overall space will be less, it will still be more than the Telluride. But it does also mean that only the Telly will have a more usable flat loading floor. For features, both have manual folding third rows, outlets, and spare tires as equipped. That's it for the interiors, so let's take them out on the road where both will impress. The Telluride and Carnival continue to be completely different when it comes to what's under their hoods. While both have traditional gas only powertrains, for this test, they both have their available hybrid systems. But these are different hybrid systems, with the minivan having a 1.6 liter turbo four-cylinder engine, and the SUV having a larger 2.5 liter turbo engine. All told, the Telly has 88 more horsepower, a lot more torque, and a much faster 0 to 60 time. Alright, that was 60 miles per hour with the Carnival hybrid. So like we talked about a little bit at the spec dump, there's two different ways that you can get the Carnival. So it kind of just depends on what is matching your preferences as well as your lifestyle. You can get a 3.5 liter v6 engine if you want to go the traditional route, or you can get this hybrid, which is a 1.6 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with your hybrid electric componentry, makes 241 horsepower. Alright, 60 miles an hour. Feels pretty substantial, pretty good. Yeah, pretty fast. Like I said, this is the fastest Telluride that they have ever made. So let's recap a little bit about what makes up this hybrid system. So it's not just designed for efficiency, it also is a significant improvement in terms of overall power. It's a 2.5 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. That's going to be paired with two electric motors, and we also have a 1.65 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery pack. Putting all that together, we're gonna have 329 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque. As far as the transmissions are concerned, even though they are hybrids, both have traditional 6-speed automatics. One major difference is capabilities, where the Telluride has all-wheel drive, but the Carnival is front-wheel drive only. The Telluride also has a ground clearance advantage at 7.4 inches over 6.8 on the Carnival, if that matters to you. And the fact that this has a traditional 6-speed automatic transmission, while the Sienna has an eCVT, means that you don't have that droning experience. Now the transmission itself, I think, works nicely with this vehicle. Now another thing to note about the powertrains is that this has a 6-speed automatic transmission. So, of course, if you know, you know, hybrids, most of them come with a continuously variable transmission, some iteration of an eCVT. This one sticks with the traditional automatic, and I do think that's for the better overall. Responsiveness on this is pretty good. The shifts are a little slow, but not too bad at all. Now for ride quality and handling, which will be the one to excel? Well, they both excel, but in slightly different ways. The Telluride is certainly the more tossable of the two, with SUV buyers prioritizing handling more than your average minivan owner. However, both sets of buyers want smooth riding models, and both excel here. While both will be far from uncomfortable on a long road trip, the Carnival will be the absolute smoothest when you consider its softer suspension and smaller wheels. Alright, but we have turned on to our designated strip of road to talk about things like ride quality. Now, you're watching a minivan review, so you probably expect that the ride quality is going to be really good on the Carnival. Indeed, it is. Really, almost every minivan just excels in this category, and the Carnival is no different. The seats are super comfortable, the suspension is tuned super softly, as you would expect. The wheels really aren't that big on the outside, so even when you hit a big bump on the in the road or whatever, it really does not translate to a lot inside the cabin. So I could easily see you taking this on a multi-hour road trip and arriving completely refreshed. When you go around corners, body roll is pretty nicely controlled, and that is all in combination with the fact that this has just superb ride quality. I think Kyle would certainly agree that every minute we've spent with this today has just been absolutely in perfect comfort. Here at Car Confections, something we always do is take sound level readings for all the models we test so that we can compare them. We don't have an official Kentucky sound level reading of the Telluride just yet, but here is a middle trim EX Telluride for your reference compared to the Hybrid Carnival in the meantime. Looks like we settled at 55.7 decibels. 57.5 seems to be the number that we have settled in at. Finally, when it comes to fuel economy, the Carnival is slightly better than Telluride, but not by enough to score a point. Both hybrids will do far better than their non-hybridized variants. While we won't be covering resale or reliability for two models of the same brand, our estimates rank Kia as a whole above the overall industry average for reliability. For resale, it will fall below many of its other Asian rivals such as Honda and Toyota. Both will be covered by Kia's long-lasting 5-year 60,000 mile basic and 10-year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty with no complimentary maintenance. Now let's break down the cost of these two and evaluate how much value each is delivering. Kia historically has always had a much more attractive price point compared to rivals, undercutting them by thousands. That being said, these fully loaded models still demand quite a bit of money. While neither crosses the $60,000 mark as equipped, they are creeping closer and closer as time passes. The price difference is about $1,800 as tested, and there are a lot more affordable trims offered as well. Based on our value scale, the Carnival will be awarded plus one point for its added value. As always, we'll remind you that if money doesn't matter as much to you, then feel free to disregard these points. So there you have it, the objective winner. Do you agree? Here are a couple things to consider when picking each one for you personally, and then we'll tell you which ones we would put in our driveways. The reasons you might choose the Carnival include more cargo space and third-row capacity. Also, you have the availability of real leather seating on your top trim level, and you also have a lot of extra features in those back seats. Yeah, now on the flip side, the Telluride should be your choice if you want more premium cabin materials. It is a little bit more luxurious than the Carnival. Additionally, it has a couple extra luxury features like seat massage, and it has all-wheel drive capability with a higher tow capacity. Those are two big things, that's for sure. But speaking of the areas where one is excelling over the other, we'd encourage you to check out carconfections.com vehicle rankings. We've looked at all the minivans offered, as well as the three-row midsize SUV segment, and ranked each of those vehicles in individual categories. Things like third-row, luxury features, powertrain choices, technology, and value. And you can see the best options in each of those categories, depending on what's most important to you in each segment. So, definitely utilize our tools at carconfections.com slash vehicle rankings to really make an informed buying decision. But which would we put in our driveways? Now, because the driveway picks are, of course, subjective, I do not have a large family. I would not need that maximum, maximum cargo capacity or the maximum, maximum third-row space. So, I would still choose the Telluride. I think I enjoy the extra benefits of the luxury and the design. I would also agree with that in my current phase of life. I do only have one kid, so I do appreciate a lot of the things that the Carnival offers. But at this current point, we don't need a minivan. But if you have a larger family, I think the Carnival is definitely the better pick between the two. And guys, if you're looking to buy either a Carnival or a Telluride, we'd encourage you to also check out carconfections.com slash new car quotes. The reason you should do that is because we have a tool on our website that'll connect you with local car dealers in your area to get you the best price. It's also going to give you access to invoice pricing information, which is a great tool to use if you plan on doing dealership negotiation. There's even things like a monthly payment calculator, so you can find that all on our website once more at carconfections.com. And guys, that's going to be where we leave off on this comparison. Hopefully, you enjoyed. If you did, we'd really appreciate you subscribing down below and becoming a part of our CarConfections family. If you're already a part of our family, thank you so much for your continued support because you make this all possible. And we'll catch you next time as we sample more of the latest automotive delicacies.