{"id":36308,"date":"2026-06-18T08:59:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=36308"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:59:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:59:42","slug":"payne-struttin-the-streets-in-the-knockout-kia-telluride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/payne-struttin-the-streets-in-the-knockout-kia-telluride","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Struttin’ the streets in the knockout Kia Telluride"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The 2027 Kia Telluride shies with sharp side stampings for its second-generation.<\/em><\/div>\n

Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n

Detroit<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 The mainstream three-row SUV class is having a moment. Sexy family haulers? You bet. Check out the rugged Chevy Traverse ZR2, Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro and rock-scaling Honda Pilot TrailSport. Or the hot-rod Dodge Durango Hellcat, Mazda CX-90 inline-6 cylinder and Ford Explorer ST.<\/p>\n

Now comes the knockout Kia Telluride X-Pro SX-Prestige that I drove all over Detroit during Detroit Grand Prix week.<\/p>\n

I see you staring at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that\u2019s my kinda color,\u201d said a passer-by on Campus Marius of the Terrain Brown Matte paint job.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t mind me,\u201d said another. \u201cI\u2019m just waiting here because I want to see if those door handles that just popped out when you parked go flush again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matte paint and pop-out door handles like a Mercedes? On a three-row Kia? You bet.<\/p>\n

As Telluride proves, the line between luxury and mainstream SUVs has been all but obliterated by modern electronics and design. Climb into my halo $60K Telluride and it echoes a halo $115K Mercedes GLS interior for half the price: hoodless digital screens, head-up display, console grab handles, twin wireless chargers (standard) and acres of leather.<\/p>\n

The Merc looks classy, Telluride oozes character.<\/p>\n

If Durango and Explorer lean into their brand\u2019s sporty vibe with intimidating Hellcat and ST trims, the Telluride X-Pro takes the SUV\u2019s signature off-road vibe to another level.<\/p>\n

This thing looks like it rolled out of a Mad Max desert scene. Chain-fence maw, black wheels, all-terrain tires, ambient-lighting, broad shoulders. What, no cow catcher on the front? If Charlize Theron showed up in the X-Pro to pick up the kids at school with black mascara smeared across her eyes, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised.<\/p>\n

Read full article here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2027 Kia Telluride shies with sharp side stampings for its second-generation. Henry Payne, The Detroit News Detroit\u00a0\u2014 The mainstream three-row SUV class is having a moment. Sexy family haulers? You bet. Check out the rugged Chevy Traverse ZR2, Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro and rock-scaling Honda Pilot TrailSport. Or the hot-rod Dodge Durango Hellcat, Mazda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36309,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36308\/revisions\/36309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}