Plush, Practical and Well Priced
Oh I fell in love, down at Palisade Park. We don’t have that park in Canada. But we just got the Palisade. And if you’re looking for a plush 8-seater SUV, it might be hard not to fall in love with it. It’s got 16 cup holders – each one a new reason to love it. But there’s more to it than quenching one's insatiable thirst for filling holes.
The Palisade is essentially a replacement for the Santa Fe XL – whose existence, I admittedly completely forgot about. Hyundai is really punching above its weight with this one. The Santa Fe looked like what you’d expect out of a modern Hyundai. A sporty, reasonably priced design. But the Palisade looks as pricey as the affluent Los Angeles neighbourhood that shares the same name. This thing wouldn’t look out of place with a Genesis badge on it.
In our ‘Ultimate’ trim level, the Palisade looks downright regal. Especially in this Sierra Burgundy on Pearl Beige Nappa Leather interior. Despite the roomy cabin, the Palisade has a lower and smaller physical presence than I expected. It’s lower than I thought and a little longer too. Exterior fit and finish is superb with even panel gaps all around. I can honestly say I cannot find an angle on it that I would call bad.
The cabin is roomy, even with all seats upright. Not to mention luxurious and refined. The quilt-like pattern on both the seats and the door handle has an air of old school luxury, but still looks remarkably modern. You’ve got four trim choices, ranging from the base ‘Essential’ to the range-topping ‘Ultimate’ – just like our tester. At the top of the line, you really only have two options with purchasing – the paint and interior colours. But of course, topping the range means topping out the price. The ‘Essential’ starts at just under $39,000 while going Ultimate pushes adds over $15,000 to that price tag. But even still, the value for money is impressive in the 8-seat SUV segment. Full size SUV? Whatever this segment is called. It's all so convoluted.
Despite its ample room, the Palisade doesn’t feel like such a massive car. It’s not a sporty, stiff ride (nor should it be,) but it isn’t so soft to the point where you lose confidence if you take a corner a little too hard. The car does have a ‘sport’ mode but we’d recommend just keeping it in normal. Or maybe Eco too. I hate sport modes that do little more than just hold gears longer. I want a comfortable drive, not a droning one.
Speaking of the drive, the Palisade gets its power from a 3.8L V6 utilizing the Atkinson cycle. Without getting technical, that essentially increases fuel economy at the cost of some power. But in a car like this, does that power loss even matter? Not like you’ll notice it anyway. This thing goes. You’ll have zero trouble keeping up with and overtaking traffic. The slick-shifting 8-speed automatic cycles through the gears smoothly without much drama and the majority of the time, holds it the RPMs in a healthy range.
One feature in particular I love is the blind spot camera. When you active the turn signal, a small camera display will appear in your gauge cluster. But not in an intrusive way. As cars get larger and wider, the blind spot size creeps up. While you should always be striving to check your blind spot, mistakes happen. This feature helps a lot and I hope to see it trickle downstream to cheaper vehicles. Some might call it a gimmick but I see it more as a safety feature. Remember the backlash backup cameras once had?
The SUV is virtually untouchable in North America. Coupes, sedans, hatchbacks and wagons have all been killed off in favour of larger crossovers and SUV’s. For many, that’s a great thing. For some, it’s not. But if it’s the future we’re heading in to, having vehicles as refined, safe and value-friendly as the Palisade will help usher in this next chapter in motor trends. The price of the Palisade can add up quickly, but even in its base trim, it’s a solid, practical, stylish choice that’s seriously good value for money.
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