I'm still figuring this all out, but the goal is to keep going on this path. Thanks for the support!

Glad I could help. The Telluride is really similar to many other crossovers on the market. I would rate it's AWD system as par for the class. Thanks for watching and commenting!

The Blazer has one of the best traction systems of any vehicle I've tested, not that the Telluride was terrible. Despite how the ground may have looked in the video it was frozen and very hard so there was little traction to be had. With warmer temperatures I'm confident the Telluride would have easily made that climb, but the Blazer would have done it no problem in the frozen conditions. Thanks for watching!

Engine Adventures You’re welcome!

The Telluride is definitely very well equipped for what you pay!

@@EngineAdventures yeah it legit best bang for your buck vehicle out on the market. If there was a different badge on it with all the features it has it could be pushing well over 60-70k

@@EngineAdventures also in Canada where we live we have a few more different terrain modes. I think there was sand/mudd and i think another terrain mode but cant remember off the top of my head. Dont have the center lock though. Our bottom when you press it you can switch to snow, mudd, sand modes.

@@nabatron21 It's interesting how different countries get different features. Some other countries get a rock mode and read diff lock on the QX80, but in the us we don't get those options.

@@EngineAdventures ye for the sx trims up here we dont even get the black wheels. Just the silver machined ones which to me dont really look good on the telluride. Also the nightfall package you can only get on the sx limited highest trim.

Thanks Super Starr! It is an excellent SUV for family hauling and road trips. It just doesn't off-road as well as it would appear. I would say it more than covers most people's needs and does a great job at it!

It's an excellent vehicle overall and will do more than most people need it to. Kia just advertises it as maybe being a little better than it is.

Thanks for watching and commenting! Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent family hauler, just not what Kia suggests in their ads.

@@EngineAdventures The advantage KIA has in redesigning their 3RC so late in the game is they get to see all the bells and whistles that are being offered and one up everyone. You'll notice that they couldn't do that on the Sorento platform. The downside is that they are coming into a market that has plenty of saturation already. How is KIA able to offer so much at a competitive price? Do they have lower production cost? Are they taking less profit? Or did they cut corners? Time will tell.

Lol just because it’s not good at off roading? It’s not meant to be or advertised as the best off-road vehicle. C’mon on now. It blows away the competition in every other aspect (with perhaps mpg being the exception)

recalls??

Uhhh recalls?? Bahah you're uneducated bro I have a Telluride and their has only been 1 recall and it was a harness they changed out when using cruise control while towing... ps mines at 20k miles bought with 3 miles on it and its hands down the best vehicle I have owned with zerooooooo problems.So do yourself a favor and stop spreading bs on the recalls cause there's literally 1 recall.....

I have yet to get one of those, the Telluride is the closest thing I've tested. I will see what I can do!

Thanks for watching!

Interesting, it's been so long since I've had the Telluride that I don't remember, but I think the glass is fixed in the rear side windows.

If you have a tpms sensor added to the spare, and then when you put it on to replace a flat, you may be able to re-program the sensors so that it picks up the spare. Kind of a pain, but probably doable.

I don't know if Subaru is in the press pool that I am a part of, but I do have access to a 2018 Outback that pretty much has the same setup as the Ascent. It has a viscous center differential to transfer power front/rear and then uses the brakes to transfer power side to side. If there is more interest in this I will do a video on it. The weak link of the system is the CVT, which struggles when making really steep slow speed climbs with a wheel or two in the air. Thanks for watching!

Engine Adventures i understand

While better tires certainly help a vehicle off-road, what I'm trying to test is the capability of the AWD system to transfer power where it needs to be. The shortcomings of the system will still be there, even with the best tires, climbing a steep grade with two wheels in the air will stop the Telluride. It's an excellent vehicle for almost everyone, just not a strong off-roader.

I believe yes on all AWD models.

Adding a steep climb to the diagonal pushes the system to it's limits. Many vehicles have struggled and failed making the steep climb while losing traction on one or two tires. Without a low range transfercase there just isn't enough torque to the wheels to climb while overcoming the braking force on the spinning wheels.

Thanks for sharing! I agree that tires are very important, however this test is about the vehicle's ability to transfer power to the wheels with traction. Doesn't matter how good your tires are if 2 of them are essentially unloaded (this case one in the air and one with barely any weight on it), if the vehicle can't effectively transfer power to the other 2 wheels that have good traction.

I agree it's not an offroader. Tires are a major component, but an even bigger component is the ability of the vehicle to transfer power to the wheels with traction. It doesn't matter if you have the best tires in the world when two of them are in the air and the vehicle can't transfer power to the other two.

Agreed, but it wouldn't have made this climb with better tires. Essentially 2 tires are in the air, which means the vehicle has to be able to transfer power to the two wheels that are on the ground. The system in the Telluride can't do that while climbing a steep hill. On a small hill it can. I agree though, tires can make a huge difference, and having more sidewall makes for a smoother ride, better traction, and the opportunity to air down if needed.

Kia isn't what it used to be. They have pretty good reliability ratings now and I'd expect them to last just as long as the others. Like most vehicles, it comes down to how well they are taken care of.

Kia/Hyundai/Genesis are massively improved. Long term reliability is still requiring some data, but initial reliability all three brands are in the top 10 now, abs all ahead of Ford and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep. I have a 7 year old Genesis with 100,000+ that has had zero issues whatsoever. Only complaint is it wears out tires (it’s AWD) a little faster than I had hoped (I do drive slightly spirited).

This one was still early on in my testing and I believe I tried with it off and with it on, but I don't remember. I need to get another so I can do my current tests with it.

One thing that is hard to test as an automotive journalist is long term durability. The AWD system is great in bad weather and will definitely help in light off-roading. I've never been able to climb any of my steep test hills with a 2wd vehicle or in 2wd for those that are part time 4wd. I agree that there are definitely better off-roaders out there, but I wouldn't discount the AWD system on the Telluride.

Of course tires make the difference too but I just traded in my Telluride for a 4Runner TRD though it was good on the highway and "very light" off road. It was however a dog in the sand.

Yes tires would have helped, but my tests aren't designed to test the tires, they are more relevant to see how well the traction systems work to transfer power to the wheels with traction. It has a really hard time transferring power side to side and the only spot in the clip you linked where it needed to do that was at 4:15ish. It is ok off-road, but not better than any other AWD crossover with the exception of the few with CVTs which are generally terrible at slow speed. For example, the Honda Pilot does much better, see this video at 12:18 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nNekh6-E1q_Ncmw.html not sure the Telluride would pass that test. I appreciate your comment and the link, it was interesting to see how well it performs when it's not so cold out!

Also it is an excellent family hauler that is very comfortable in all 3 rows! Just not an off-roader, which doesn't matter for most people anyway.

Dude. Every vehicle is going to drive dramatically better with the right tires. Kia does claim this Telluride is a veritable dune buggy. Their commercials are 30 seconds of the vehicle going all out in a mud field and Kia bragging about rear wheel lockout like it's the end-all-be-all of off roading. What they don't tell you is that it's speed limited or that the car lacks the low end torque to really leverage the electronic side-to-side power transfer as this video clearly shows. I'm glad you like your Telluride, but recognize there are other equally/more capable vehicles already on the market.

@@arrowhawkmywthweavers7633 im sorry to tell you but the telluride was name Texas off road suv of the year and i assure you that if you give the engine a little bit of rpm, it will go were you what to go, and i don't think at that price there's any suv's that came equip whit a big steel skid plate, and sorry to disappoint you but IT IS THE SUV OF THE YEAR, so for the potential buyers of this segment, your vehicle quality ride is more important than go into 4 feet of mud !!

@@rkuklinsky5352 I love how you shift the goal posts. This video is about its off-road capabilities (go read the title again if you've forgotten). KIA promotes this vehicle like its the best in-class off-road. Guess what? It's not. I've seen two people test this system on KZfaq and point out that it's no better than the anything else in this segment and that the Honda Pilot is more capable off-road. You obviously came to this video expecting something other than what you got. **shrug**

Very true, but these tests are for the traction control systems more than for the tires. Better tires would have helped, but the shortcomings of the traction system would still be there. Thanks for watching!

@@EngineAdventures "Traction control is designed to minimize wheel slippage to maintain traction. The problem is sometimes you need that wheel spinning to get through like mud snow and sand. For that reason, almost all 4WD vehicles turn off traction control when you engage low range" - William Connor 4wheelsandamotor.com Also consider that this is talking about a 4WD systems and not an AWD (which by design has less off-road capabilities) this is why I commented about the tires. Once mud or snow fills the low profile tires, it's basically like driving on ice no matter what brand of AWD vehicle that size and weight.

Good point. The new systems are much smarter than that. When using low range for slow speed crawling and precision it's important for the brake limited slip systems to work. Toyota does that with A-TRAC which can then be disabled if you are in mud/sand/deep snow. Many systems have separate rock modes and mud/sand modes with rock mode severely limiting wheel spin and mud and sand basically letting them go as fast as the drivetrain allows. It always takes a while to figure out how a modern vehicle with electronics will respond, then once you have it figured out it will do something unexpected. I like purely mechanical systems like locking differentials, but for the mainstream the electronic aids are safer.

@@EngineAdventures but even with A-TRAC note the tires on this example. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ec1opql2ybLTn5c.html

@@EngineAdventures The modified Tellurides from SEMA would be a fairer judgement on the Telluride's off-road capabilities.

If you're in the area I'd love to review it!

Check out my other videos, I tried to take an outback up the hard line, it didn't make it. It performed about the same as the Seltos and Telluride. It's hard to show how steep this hill is on video.

@@EngineAdventures I should send u a video to show where I go with Subarus. I am not sure how did you setup the power but usually it's going well with stock high ground clearance

This thing is top of it's class as far as features per dollar goes. The AWD system is a great all weather system, but definitely not as offroad oriented as Kia would have you believe from their ads.

I'd consider it a great all weather vehicle, but not an offroader. Kia kind of advertises the Telluride as an offroader which I find misleading.

@@EngineAdventures agreed...