Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas: What’s The Difference?
Kia Telluride by Damian B Oh — CC-BY-SA-4.0
These days, it’s easier than ever to find a great three-row crossover SUV. The wide variety of options available is wonderful, but it can also be hugely intimidating. You might not want to spend hours upon hours doing intense research into the different SUVs out there, but you also won’t want to go in blindly, either. Thankfully, there’s a third option for you! Read on, and you’ll discover all you need to know about the Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas, two of the best three-row crossover SUVs on the market.
A Brief Overview
While the Kia Telluride and Volkswagen Atlas are both sturdy, modern three-row SUVs, we have to recommend the Telluride. It’s been rated as a safer vehicle overall, has better safety and entertainment features, and is less expensive than the Atlas to boot. You probably wouldn’t regret buying an Atlas, but you definitely wouldn’t regret buying a Telluride.
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Specs
When it comes to sheer performance, the Telluride reigns supreme in the Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas debate. The 2021 Telluride comes with a single 3.8 Liter V6 engine that generates 291 horsepower. If you go for a 2021 Atlas, you’ll receive a 3.6 Liter, V6 engine with 276 horsepower. This isn’t quite as strong as the Telluride, but the difference isn’t enormous or anything. If you plan to do a lot of towing with your SUV, you can rest assured that both vehicles have a towing capacity of up to 5,000 pounds.
Both SUVs have extremely similar interior spaces, so it’s interesting that the Telluride is actually said to have a more comfortable interior (especially for taller people) due to the way the space is used. The front two rows were optimized for people who need a little bit more room to stretch out their legs, while the back row is perfect for those with shorter legs. The Atlas isn’t quite as optimized as this but is still quite comfortable.
Safety and Reliability
Car shoppers on the hunt for a sweet three-row SUV are often looking for safety first and foremost, with other factors coming later. This is always a great bet, and you can rest easy knowing that you can’t really go wrong with either of these SUVs, despite the differences between a Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas. Even so, one does still come out on top as being a bit safer than the other, so let’s dive into what sets these cars apart.
One of the primary advantages of a 2021 Kia Telluride is just how safe it’s been rated. An excellent, well-thought-out suite of safety features and great ratings from trusted safety institutions make this a reliable vehicle. Some of the most refined safety features you’ll get in any Telluride trim are pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance assist, and driver attention warning, which does a great job at detecting when you might be too tired to drive and need to take a break. You’ll also receive a rearview camera with great picture quality so that you can always know what’s going on behind you with merely a glance.
The 2021 Volkswagen Atlas’ features are nothing to sneeze at either, but they’re not as robust in that the base level trims don’t come with as much. You still get great tech like automatic emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring, but you won’t receive lane keep assist or adaptive cruise control until you spend more on a higher trim level. Additionally, the Atlas isn’t rated quite as highly in terms of safety as the Telluride is. The Kia Telluride received a Top Safety Pick award by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, while the Atlas did not. Therefore, the difference between these two cars isn’t night and day when it comes to safety, but the Telluride still wins.
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Gas Mileage
Fuel economy isn’t a huge differentiator when comparing a Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas, as the difference is minor. The Telluride gets an estimate of roughly 20 miles per gallon in the city and 26 miles per gallon on the highway, which isn’t exactly the best fuel economy out there for a three-row SUV, but it isn’t bad, either. Interestingly enough, the Atlas fares better in the city but worse on the highway. Its engine is expected to return about 21 miles per gallon in the city and 24 miles per gallon on the highway. If you plan to drive mostly in the city, then the Atlas is your best bet, but for those long drives, the Telluride wins out.
Technology
We’re giving the victory to the Telluride in the technology portion of the Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas competition. At nearly every trim level, it’s got better versions of the technology in the Atlas and comes at a lower price.
The Telluride automatically comes equipped with an eight-inch touchscreen set up with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a six-speaker audio system. There are also five USB ports integrated into this system, which is a nice modern touch. On top of this, the Telluride also features adaptive cruise control, an alarm, adaptive cruise control, heated mirrors, and a keyless start. The Atlas also has some high-quality technology, but it doesn’t quite cut it in comparison to the Telluride. Its infotainment system has a six-and-a-half-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which is slightly worse than the Telluride’s system.
As you move up through the different trim levels, you’ll find that the Atlas never reaches the same heights that the Telluride does. If you value cutting-edge tech highly, the Telluride is the SUV for you.
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Price
The original cost for both of these crossover SUVs is really close, so if you get the base trim, this probably won’t make much of a difference in the Kia Telluride vs. Volkswagen Atlas comparison. The base 2021 Kia Telluride will run you a bit over $32,000, while the base 2021 Volkswagen Atlas will set you back under $33,000. The price gap between these two cars only gets wider as you start to look at the more expensive trims, however, with the difference between their top trims being several thousand dollars. Given that the Telluride is the safer car and has nicer technology, it’s the one worth getting.
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