The Kia Telluride isn't the brand's first attempt to go toe to toe with the Ford Explorer, although we wouldn't blame anyone who forgot about the 2009 Kia Borrego the moment they first heard of it. That original American-sized Korean SUV was so poorly timed and so wildly uncompetitive that it flopped before sales started. Kia only sold the Borrego for a couple years before abandoning the segment in the United States.

The Koreans have clearly been doing their homework in the decade since the Borrego debacle. Their second shot at the segment, the new-for-2020 Telluride, has all the makings of a credible competitor on paper and in pictures. To see if that holds up in the real world, we tapped a $46,910 Telluride SX all-wheel-drive model to measure against the mid-size SUV standby, the Ford Explorer.

View Photos James Lipman Car and Driver

Ford's iconic SUV has undergone a reinvention of its own for 2020. After a nine-year fling sharing a transverse-engine architecture with vehicles such as the Ford Taurus, the Explorer spins the engine back to its original position, with the crankshaft pointing front to back. Rear-wheel drive comes standard, but our $46,810 2020 Ford Explorer XLT AWD directs torque to all four wheels as necessary.

On the Road

The new Explorer joins the growing ranks of big SUVs with small engines, offering a turbocharged inline-four as the standard powertrain. Don't mistake small for slow, though. Ford's 2.3-liter engine puts out a strong 300 horsepower, which pays off with a 6.2-second run to 60 mph that places the Explorer at the head of the class. It can be thrifty, too, in the right situations. While the Ford averaged 21 mpg over 700 miles of mixed driving to the Kia's 20 mpg, on our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, the Explorer returned a more impressive 28 mpg versus the Telluride's 24 mpg. Unfortunately, these strengths are offset by the Ford engine's uneven power delivery around town that makes the powertrain calibration feel unfinished.

View Photos James Lipman Car and Driver

The switch from a transversely mounted engine to a longitudinally mounted one may be a boon to Ford's manufacturing flexibility, but it does nothing for customers in terms of packaging or dynamics. The Explorer is no more athletic than a designated hitter. It is capable of making the occasional, brief straight-line dash but falters when asked to change directions fluidly. And yet, for being as soft and disconnected from the road as it is, the Explorer doesn't ride particularly well. When the road turns rough, the Explorer is overwhelmed by its busy body motions.

Kia takes a more traditional powertrain approach than Ford, using a 291-hp V-6 with a relatively large 3.8-liter displacement. It's more polished, which is a good thing, since the unboosted engine needs more revs to move swiftly in traffic. Pushed to its full potential, the Telluride hits 60 mph in an adequate 7.0 seconds. In addition to the more refined engine, the Kia's eight-speed automatic transmission is better sorted than the Explorer's 10-speed, which shifts with longer and more pronounced torque interruptions.

View Photos James Lipman Car and Driver

The Telluride delivers a marked improvement in both ride and handling compared to the Ford Explorer. Its front and rear ends move in sync through quick turns and over broken pavement. Body roll is buttoned down during cornering, but it's not so taut that it elicits side-to-side head toss over uneven roads. It's quiet, too. Sound-level measurements in the Kia's cabin registered three decibels lower than the Ford's at a 70-mph cruise. That all adds up to a calm and collected demeanor as the Telluride rolls down the road.

The Inside View

Ford's XLT trim level serves as the entry point into the Explorer range, while the Telluride SX sits atop Kia's lineup. If that sounds like an unfair comparison, consider that the Kia's as-tested price comes in just $100 higher than the Ford's, and yet the Telluride's list of features handily outnumbers and outclasses the Explorer's. Here's a partial accounting of equipment found in the Kia that was conspicuously absent from the Ford: heated front and rear seats, ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, driver's seat memory, a head-up display, front parking sensors, a sunroof, wireless phone charging, a bird's-eye 360-degree camera system, an integrated garage door opener, and second-row sunshades.

View Photos James Lipman Car and Driver

In interior style and quality, the Telluride doesn't just pummel the Ford. It punches well above its weight and delivers a near-luxury experience despite a price that screams "value." In contrast, the Explorer is a somber study in penny-pinching cost savings and hard, black plastic. If you measure luxuriousness by anything other than size, there are $30K compact cars that are more upscale than this particular $46,810 Explorer.

Even when you score them by interior space alone, the Kia easily beats the 1.9-inch-longer Ford. While the middle- and third-row passenger volumes of these two utes are identical, the Kia prioritizes legroom, which makes for a tangible difference. Its second and third rows are among the most spacious and comfortable in the SUV business, including among behemoths such as the Chevrolet Suburban and the Ford Expedition. You can seat six-footers one behind the other in the front, second, and third rows of the Telluride without any negotiating over how the seats should be positioned. The Explorer's rearmost row will swallow a full-size adult if the adult in the second row slides his seat uncomfortably close to the front seatback. In addition to its more spacious seating, the Telluride also beats the Explorer on cargo volume behind the third row.

View Photos James Lipman Car and Driver

The Bottom Line

Kia's second shot at the three-row, mid-size SUV market is a first-rate vehicle that is perfectly attuned to the American market. It probably took a massive effort on Kia's part to deliver this knockout, but the Telluride's win appears effortless. The big Kia proves the better buy regardless of whether you prioritize interior space, style, value, driving dynamics, or convenience features as your most important need. The Ford's advantages in straight-line performance and highway fuel economy simply aren't enough to justify its less accommodating interior, its unpolished powertrain, or its mediocre driving dynamics.

Specifications Specifications 2020 Ford Explorer XLT AWD VEHICLE TYPE

front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 6-passenger, 4-door hatchback PRICE AS TESTED

$46,810 (base price: $39,870) ENGINE TYPE

turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement

138 cu in, 2264 cc

Power

300 hp @ 5500 rpm

Torque

310 lb-ft @ 3500 rpm TRANSMISSION

10-speed automatic CHASSIS

Suspension (F/R): struts/multilink

Brakes (F/R): 13.6-in vented disc/12.6-in disc

Tires: Michelin Primacy A/S, 255/55R-20 110V M+S DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 119.1 in

Length: 198.8 in

Width: 78.9 in

Height: 69.9 in

Passenger volume: 156 cu ft

Cargo volume: 18 cu ft

Curb weight: 4498 lb C/D

TEST RESULTS

Zero to 60 mph: 6.2 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 17.8 sec

Zero to 120 mph: 30.2 sec

Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 7.2 sec

Top gear, 30–50 mph: 4.0 sec

Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.7 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 14.9 sec @ 93 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 125 mph

Braking, 70–0 mph: 170 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.81 g

*stability-control-inhibited C/D

FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 21 mpg

75-mph highway driving: 28 mpg

Highway range: 500 miles EPA FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/city/highway: 23/20/27 mpg DOWNLOAD TEST SHEET – 2020 Kia Telluride SX AWD VEHICLE TYPE

front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 4-door hatchback PRICE AS TESTED

$46,910 (base price: $44,585) ENGINE TYPE

DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement

231 cu in, 3778 cc

Power

291 hp @ 6000 rpm

Torque

262 lb-ft @ 5200 rpm TRANSMISSION

8-speed automatic CHASSIS

Suspension (F/R): struts/multilink

Brakes (F/R): 13.4-in vented disc/12.0-in disc

Tires: Michelin Primacy Tour A/S, 245/50R-20 102V M+S DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 114.2 in

Length: 196.9 in

Width: 78.3 in

Height: 69.3 in

Passenger volume: 155 cu ft

Cargo volume: 21 cu ft

Curb weight: 4443 lb C/D

TEST RESULTS

Zero to 60 mph: 7.0 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 17.8 sec

Zero to 120 mph: 28.5 sec

Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 7.4 sec

Top gear, 30–50 mph: 3.8 sec

Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.8 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 15.3 sec @ 93 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 132 mph

Braking, 70–0 mph: 177 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.81 g C/D

FUEL ECONOMY

Observed: 20 mpg

75-mph highway driving: 24 mpg

Highway range: 450 miles EPA FUEL ECONOMY

Combined/city/highway: 21/19/24 mpg DOWNLOAD TEST SHEET Expand Collapse

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