How Many Miles Will a 2020 Kia Telluride Go on a Tank of Gas?
Before you buy a car, you want to know it isn’t a gas-guzzler that’ll cost you a fortune to fill up. If you use your vehicle for work or frequently take road trips, it’s important to know you’ll be able to travel far without having to make frequent fuel stops. If that describes you, the Kia Telluride may be the SUV for you. It can go hundreds of miles between fill-ups. But exactly how far?
The 2020 Kia Telluride’s engine
If you want a potent engine that isn’t too thirsty, the 2020 Kia Telluride can give you the oomph you’re looking for. This SUV packs a 3.8-liter V6 that can ramp up to 291 hp, MotorTrend reports.
Also, expect 262 lb-ft of torque. It “was more than enough to keep us moving as we climbed” the mountainous portion of a trip MT’s writer took with his family to test the SUV’s fuel efficiency in real-world conditions.
A journey to test the Kia Telluride
MotorTrend’s experiment to get a sense of the 2020 model’s gas mileage provides promising results to current and prospective Kia Telluride owners. The MT’s journalist goal: to determine the distance he could drive the Telluride on a single tank with his wife and their dog along for the ride.
They packed lunches so that they wouldn’t have to stop for food and gassed up at a local station before embarking on a journey east to the small mountain town of Idyllwild, California. Their ride took them past Lake Hemet and through Temecula before heading back home “after many hours.” Google Maps estimated 270 miles for the round-trip voyage, but the couple planned “a lot of detours to explore interesting roads” on the picturesque route.
They clocked 100 miles of highway driving before hitting the mountainous part of the trip. They stopped for lunch at an overlook near Lake Hemet. Then they began their descent home “south out of the mountains … in a much more subtle [manner].” Around Temecula, they again picked up the highway, taking it for the final 90 miles of the journey.
After pulling into their driveway, they checked the trip computer. It showed 330.2 miles, with a fuel economy of 23.8 mpg. And they could’ve traveled even farther because they were “not even close” to the tank running dry. In fact, the Kia Telluride had more than a quarter of a tank left and an estimated 150 miles before hitting empty.
The Telluride’s popularity
The fuel efficiency MotorTrend’s tester documented on that trip is encouraging for an SUV. And it’s just one of the factors that make the Kia Telluride such a popular option.
Critics and owners alike praise it for its overall performance. MotorTrend even named the Telluride its 2020 SUV of the Year. One MT editor called it “one of the few three-row crossovers that [he] actually like[s] driving.” Another said the Telluride “really nails the criteria” for MotorTrend SUV of the Year.
Other MT staff laud the Telluride for its “exceptional quietness and smoothness” and say its “suspension compliance and ride comfort are its strength.”
And aside from performance, critics routinely praise the Telluride for its high-end look — inside and out — without the luxury price tag.
