2023 Kia Telluride Sharpens Up With Facelift, Toughens Up With New Trims

The new-and-improved Telluride makes its debut at the New York Auto Show.

By: Jeff Perez

Apr 13, 2022 at 10:10am ET

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The Kia Telluride is already one of the hottest three-rows on sale today, and has been a smash hit since its US debut in 2018. But for the 2023 model year, Kia is updating the beloved Telluride with fresh exterior styling, extra technology, and two rugged-ish new trims to choose from.

Front and center, the Telluride has an updated headlight treatment, which features standard LEDs with available LED fog lamps. The bumper itself is new, too, offering more aggressive detailing up top and sculpted elements or a bulky grey insert below, depending on which trim you choose. The ubiquitous Kia "Tiger Nose" grille remains, but it gains new offsetting black mesh.

The back end of the 2023 Telluride looks cleaner, with a fresh bumper design and new taillight inserts that now feature sleek vertical LED strips. Three new body colors – Midnight Lake Blue, Dawning Red, and Jungle Wood Green – cover the updated body panels, while every version of the Telluride gets a new wheel design.

The rugged X-Line and X-Pro trims make their way from the Sportage to the new Telluride, adding more style and some light off-road cues. With the X-Line, the Telluride gains a new grille, roof rails, trim-specific wheels, and a 0.4-inch (10-millimeter) ride height increase. The X-Pro, meanwhile, gets all the same features as the X-Line model, plus 18-inch wheels wrapped in all-terrain rubber and an improved towing capacity of 5,500 pounds, as opposed to 5,000 pounds.

The same 3.8-liter V6 from last year carries over, still producing 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. That engine is paired to an eight-speed automatic transmission with available all-wheel drive, and new for 2023, Kia added a Downhill Brake Control feature that gives the SUV a controlled descent on steep roads – or off-roads.

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Inside of the updated Telluride is where things get interesting. A new 12.3-inch touchscreen with navigation – up from 10.3 inches – adorns the dash, now with Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity and over-the-air updates. There's a larger head-up display, as well, growing from 8.5 inches in the previous to 10.0 inches, now offering more features.

Kia also expanded its list of active safety equipment in the new Telluride, adding things like navigation-based cruise control, Highway Driving Assist 2, side collision avoidance, steering assist, and more. The 2023 Kia Telluride goes on sale later this year, but no word on pricing just yet.