If you came here thinking you'll see Doug DeMuro in the clip waiting for you at the bottom of the page, you need to pay more attention to his signature expression: it's "quirks and features," not "style and features."
It could happen to anyone, but don't go away just for that because you might be missing some quality material. In fact, that's exactly what you'd be doing since there's no better way to describe the work of the Canadian duo (well, half Canadian, half English) Throttle House.
In this episode, they review the two related South Korean pseudo-luxury SUVs, the Hyundai Palisade and the Kia Telluride. This pair is pretty emblematic for the direction these two brands are headed in, and that's toward the premium sector.
Well, it's more like the upper layers of the mainstream segment, if we're being honest, and it does make sense to stick to that level since going any higher than that would run the risk of stepping onto the toes of Genesis, the luxury sister brand.
A close inspection of the Telluride and Palisade shows there's no reason to worry about that. Both Hyundai and Kia work more on perception than on actually deliver the features that make a vehicle worthy of the luxury segment. However, if that sounds like we're throwing shade at these two SUVs, it couldn't be further from the truth. It's actually pretty hard to match what they offer and also stick within the same price range.
For starters, there's the exterior styling. The Koreans have been clever enough to make these two SUVs different enough, so they don't appeal to the same public. For instance, we're team Telluride, but it appears people are just as likely to prefer the Palisade. They might be built on the same platform and share the same powertrain - a smooth as silk 3.8-liter naturally aspirated V6 mated to an eight-speed automatic - but you wouldn't be able to tell that just by looking at them.
It's more of the same on the inside. Out of the two, the Kia was chosen to keep a more low-key aspect with its hybrid digital/analog instrument cluster and the tiny - at least by modern standards - central display. The Palisade, on the other hand, gets the "nautical" feel - as Thomas and James describe it - thanks to its mixture of more upmarket materials and lighter color scheme. Overall, the interior is a clear win for the Hyundai, though you would have to get used to changing drive direction using buttons instead of a good old lever.
In the end, it's not so much a battle between these two Korean models, but between them and the rest of the world. And in that battle, they're both winners because there are no other options on the market that offer so much for so little.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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