It's almost hard to believe that 20 years ago, Hyundai was the butt of every joke in the automotive industry. Their entire product portfolio consisted of lackluster cars, and the only reason why people bought them was because they were cheap, and certainly a lot cheaper than their competitors. Feeling the threat and the pressure, Hyundai decided to up the ante significantly, and start making cars that you might actually want to buy.
That leads to the present day, where Hyundai is one of the fastest-growing automotive manufacturers globally, and their product portfolio is now full of cars that people actually want. Hyundai is also quite good at the value-for-money thing, something that the Palisade, now face-lifted for 2023, perfectly demonstrates.
2023 Hyundai Palisade
- Updated styling
- New XRT trim level
- Three rows as standard
- Model: Palisade
- Engine/Motor: 3.8-liter naturally-aspirated V6
- Horsepower: 291 hp
- Torque: 262 lb-ft
- Drivetrain: AWD
- Transmission: 8-speed automatic
- Practical and luxurious
- Distinctive looks
- Amazing value for money
- Not the most frugal powertrain
- Wind noise at highway speeds
- It's not all that fun to drive
Overview Of The 2023 Palisade
The Hyundai Palisade is Hyundai's mid-size SUV offering in North America, and it first arrived in 2018, replacing the LWB Santa Fe in Hyundai's North American lineup. Even though it's a mid-size SUV, it's by far the largest vehicle in the automaker's lineup, and one of the largest they've ever made. Despite sharing a platform and powertrain with the Kia Telluride, the Palisade aims for a slightly different demographic. Interestingly, despite the shared underpinnings, Hyundai builds the Palisade in Korea, whereas Kia builds the Telluride in Georgia in the US.
The Palisade is more luxurious of the two siblings, which is obvious when you first look at it. It definitely has an air of the luxury SUV about it, as the lines are cleaner and more streamlined. The 2023 facelift introduces a new grille, which brings it more in line with Hyundai's other models. There are also updated alloy wheel designs, as well as new headlights. The new XRT trim level is more rugged and off-roady, but other than that, the same trim levels carry over on the 2023 Palisade. It goes into battle with the likes of the Toyota Highlander, the Ford Explorer, now available with the awesome Timberline trim level, the Honda Pilot, the Volkswagen Atlas, and the Mazda CX-9, which we have recently reviewed.
2023 Palisade Powertrains And Drivetrains
In North America, the Palisade comes only one way. Under the hood is a 3.8-liter naturally-aspirated V6 engine with 291 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. No plug-in hybrid, no mild hybrid, and no turbocharging, just pure V6 power. For a lot of consumers, this is a good thing, but it also has a few downfalls. Power certainly isn't one of them, as even though the Palisade seats up to eight passengers and weighs over 4,000 lbs, it can still do 60 mph in less than 8-seconds. Not to mention, the Palisade has a rather impressive towing capacity of 5,000 lbs.
The V6 spins the wheels through a conventional eight-speed automatic transmission, but unfortunately, AWD is optional on all trim levels bar the top-of-the-line Calligraphy. Yes, rather perplexingly, that means AWD is optional on the XRT trim as well. If you want to do some light off-roading, and you need the extra security, which we assume you do as this is a very family-centric SUV, it's definitely an option worth having. The Palisade isn't all about fun driving dynamics, but if comfort is your priority, it does a fantastic job. While the power delivery of the V6 is linear, the fact that it's naturally-aspirated and features no electrification of any kind means the fuel economy isn't the best in class either.
2023 Palisade Comfort And Quality
The interior of the Palisade is definitely one of its highlights, as it does a fantastic job of hiding how relatively affordable this SUV is. It might sound like it's giving it too much credit, but the Palisade definitely feels luxurious on the inside, especially on the higher-end trim levels. Lots of brightly-colored leather, tons of technology, fantastic build quality and very nice materials throughout. The Calligraphy is by far the nicest one, but all models do the interior quality part of the equation very well.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard on all trim levels, as well as Bluetooth connectivity which allows two devices simultaneously. With the Palisade's focus on family transportation, it's good to see that it has plenty of safety features as standard. Adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, auto emergency braking and a whole lot more. As standard, the Palisade seats seven passengers, but it can seat up to eight passengers with the right seating configuration. Behind the third row, the Palisade has 18 cubic-feet of cargo space, 45.8 behind the second row, and a massive 86.4 cubic-feet with all the seats folded.
2023 Palisade Pricing And Launch
The 2023 Hyundai Palisade is set to arrive in dealerships across North America later in 2022. Prices are slightly higher than the outgoing model, with the base SE starting at $36,245. The Calligraphy starts at a pretty expensive $50,195, and the new XRT trim starts at $41,545. That's not really cheap, but considering how much the Palisade offers and how much more some of its competitors might charge, it's pretty much a no-brainer if you're after a complete, comprehensive three-row SUV package.