I get it. The Kia Telluride is the best thing ever. Everyone loves it. It is the perfect SUV that will make you a few inches taller and make your hair grow back. After seeing the immense praise the Kia Telluride is receiving, you might be lead to believe some of those statements are true. Although the Kia Telluride is a great SUV, that doesn’t change the fact that it is boring. B.O.R.I.N.G. Boring. Search your feelings. You know it’s true.

Thankfully Kia, in all its wisdom, made a slightly cooler optional package for the Kia Telluride called “Nightfall Edition.” The Nightfall package contents have been covered here before, but I feel as though the necessity of the package has not been touched upon. However, dear reader, that is what I am here to do. 

The Kia Telluride Nightfall

To briefly touch on what the Nightfall Edition is, it dresses the otherwise suburbanite Telluride in an NYC-approved black coat of accents, wheels, and trim pieces. Car and Driver says the blackout starts with the grille, roof rails, window trim, badging, and wheels.

If you are interested in a slightly less goth aesthetic, the monochrome trim comes in Snow White Pearl, Everlasting Silver, Gravity Gray, Ebony Black, Sangria, Black Copper, a new Wolf Gray color, and my personal favorite, Dark Moss. It’s important to note; only the top trim models can get the Nightfall Editon. 

This monochromatic SUV brings some life to the otherwise boring SUV. Again, I don’t mean to sound so anti-Telluride; I’m really not. I just feel like it has covered its bases well and taken almost no risk. The Kia Telluride feels like a roll of duct tape to me. It seems to do exactly what it is supposed to and does it well. Like duct tape, it now comes in some fun colors but still does the same thing as it’s always done. 

The Kia Telluride engine 

See how there was no ‘s” on the end of “engine”? Kia only offers one engine for the Telluride. Every Kia Telluride comes with a 3.6-liter V6 making 291 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. For a three-row SUV, 291 hp is a bit blah. I am not here for the monster hp SUVs like the Dodge Durango Hellcat, but something about those power figures just feels like more of the same duct-tape-like attitude of, “well, that works.” The semi-metallic roll of V6 is paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Car and Driver’s testers, like everyone else, had nothing bad to say about it. 

The interior of the Kia Telluride

It’s more of the same here. Consumer Reports goes into great detail about the interior comfort and cabin features. Part of what makes the telluride rank so highly on everyone’s list is this segment, and I get it. The Kia is spacious, comfy, and dripping with features that make a road trip easy and smooth. 

Since you have to have the top two trims to get the Nightfall edition, you might as well spring for the EX AWD verison to have the best chance at driving something fun. This version of the Kia telluride comes with Nappa leather and ventilated seats. 

One of Consumer Reports’ highest marks is given due to how quite the Kia Telluride is. I understand that road noise can be an annoyance, but if that is a shining moment for a car, then I would consider that as a pretty boring ride for that to shine so brightly. 

The Kia Telluride hasn’t done anything wrong

I’ll say it one more time; I know the Kia Telluride is a great SUV. I, of course, have no issue with all the shining reviews of it. It just seems like there is nothing to get a driver’s blood flowing with the Telluride so far, other than the Nightfall color pack. Kia didn’t appear to take any risks or make any mistakes at all. While that isn’t a bad thing, it does run the risk of being boring. Hopefully, Kia keeps coming out with better packages and eventually a performance package.