Compare the2023 Honda PilotVS 2023 Kia Telluride

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Honda Pilot have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Kia Telluride doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

The Honda Pilot has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Telluride doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Both the Pilot and the Telluride have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Pilot’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Telluride runs out after 100,000 miles.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Pilot for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Telluride.

There are over 37 percent more Honda dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Pilot’s warranty.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 4 places higher in reliability than Kia.

On the EPA test cycle the Pilot 4WD gets better fuel mileage than the Telluride 4x4 (19 city/25 hwy vs. 18 city/24 hwy).

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Pilot’s fuel efficiency. The Telluride doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Pilot’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Telluride doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Pilot has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Telluride doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

A 10-speed automatic is standard on the Honda Pilot, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Telluride.

For better stopping power the Pilot’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Telluride:

For better traction, the Pilot has larger standard tires than the Telluride (255/50R20 vs. 245/60R18). The Pilot TrailSport’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Telluride (265/60R18 vs. 245/60R18).

The Pilot has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Telluride doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Pilot TrailSport has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Telluride; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

For better maneuverability, the Pilot’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Telluride’s (37.8 feet vs. 38.8 feet).

To almost totally eliminate engine vibration in the passenger area, the Pilot has an electronically controlled liquid-filled main engine mount. A computer-controlled electric current in the liquid changes its viscosity, allowing the mount to dampen the engine completely at all RPMs. The Telluride uses conventional solid rubber engine mounts.

The front grille of the Pilot uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Telluride doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Pilot uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Telluride doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Pilot has 3.4 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Telluride (158.4 vs. 155).

The Pilot has .3 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.2 inches more third row headroom, 1.1 inches more third row legroom, .9 inches more third row hip room and 4.2 inches more third row shoulder room than the Telluride.

The Pilot’s cargo area provides more volume than the Telluride.

On a hot day the Pilot’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Telluride can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Pilot’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Telluride’s standard projector halogen headlights and light instantly. LED lights also last over twenty times longer than halogen.

The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Telluride offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.