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| 2019 Hyundai Palisade |
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| 2019 Hyundai Palisade |
Beginning with the design, the Palisade draws its inspiration from the HDC-2 Grandmaster as seen at the Busan Motor Show last summer and while it's almost as accurate as the concept car it was based on, the Palisade's exterior design is like letting the Caps Lock on and whatever their reason, it likes to yell at everyone else just as the most powerful man in the world likes to end his tweet with an exclamation point, so many times. The front looks like it came from a Rhino unit the police are using so if anyone saw one in their rear view mirror, they better think twice before getting their heads on. On the side view, it's reminiscent of whatever full-size Chevy SUV we can think of, and on the back, there goes the Caps Lock button on. How disturbing is that?
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| 2019 Hyundai Palisade interior |
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| 2019 Hyundai Palisade interior |
Although the exterior has an expression of the rhino in a business suit, the interior feels pretty much like a luxury car but there is a drama in the dashboard as any speedo boy would tell. On the driver's side, when your typical speedo boy spotted that there are buttons instead of a gear lever that operates its 8-speed automatic gearbox as well as the irreplaceable sat-nav with 10.25-inch screen, among many other high-tech stuff, they would run away and let the average salaryman drive it. On the passenger side, whether if its a seven or an eight-seater, the Palisade is surprisingly more roomier than the Santa Fe it was based on but what makes the second-row seats sweeter is because behind the driver's seat lies a USB port to connect your gadgets while on the move. Handy in the event of being stuck in EDSA traffic on a Friday afternoon.
Of course, the Palisade has an impressive room for five more people and ample boot space for trips to the potluck or a birthday party but word of warning that if all of the second-row seats got occupied by child seats, goodbye sweet spot. Bummer.
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| 2019 Hyundai Palisade |
Under the hood, the Palisade is offered with a choice of a 2.2L CRDi-VGT diesel engine that produces 202PS of power, 45kg-m of torque, and up to 12.6km/L of fuel economy, and a powerful 295PS V6 3.8-liter engine with up to 9.6km/L of fuel economy. The V6 variant is beefy but irrelevant on an SUV like this and a diesel variant just wouldn't work rather well in today's climate but still ticks the right boxes like what a family carrier should be. Love it or hate it, these engines do live up to the Palisade's standards.
Although bulky to handle, the Palisade is surprisingly rigid and stable because of its suspension geometry and tuning as well as its planned use of Advanced High Strength Steel and HTRAC all-wheel drive with Multi Terrain Control. The Multi Terrain Control allows drivers to switch through different driving modes including specially-made Snow, Mud, and Sand Modes, each with special traction tuning. It may not be as effective as a Range Rover but as an all-rounder, it's not half bad to take control of.
In terms of safety, the Palisade comes with a wide range of safety features such as Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Following Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist, Safe Exit Assist, High Beam Assist, Driver Attention Warning and Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go. Nine airbags? Check.
The Palisade, should you buy it, of course, starts at 3.475 million Won for the V6 and 3.622 million Won for the diesel, and while this is the priciest crossover in the Hyundai range, it's competitively priced against other full-size crossovers of its size. So, what we learned that while the Palisade's exterior design is too disturbing and the choice of engines sounds redundant for that size, the interior, the tech, and the comfort is like what the Palisade means. Call it a family carrier, call it a luxury car, call it what you may but what matters the most is that this is why Hyundai made this flagship SUV for these matters. Be thankful.
Photo: Hyundai Motor Company
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