Breaking new ground
David Thomson tries Hyundai’s latest SUV for size, and finds it rather big.
What’s new?
If you think that the new Santa Fe is as large as a modern SUV really needs to be, then Hyundai is challenging you to think again with its launch of the Palisade.
Close to 200mm longer, 75mm wider and 40mm taller than the latest and quite spacious Santa Fe, Hyundai New Zealand officially refers to the Palisade as an ‘‘upperlarge’’ SUV.
Designed primarily for North America, it has been trucking about there since late2018 as a standalone model to replace a previous longwheelbase version of the Santa Fe.
We never saw that XL Santa Fe here, so the Palisade takes Hyundai New Zealand into new territory sizewise and a new price bracket, being the first mainstream offering from the company to carry a sixfigure price tag here.
That price bracket isn’t quite a universal as the basemodel Palisade — a frontdrive petrol — is $99,990. The Limited sells for $107,990, the allwheel drive diesel Elite starts at $106,990 (as tested), the
Limited is $114,990 and there is a special Nappa Edition at $119,990.
Dissecting the lineup a little more, the frontwheel drive petrol versions feature 217kW/ 255Nm 3.9litre V6 petrol
power, while the allwheel drives take the same 147kW/ 440Nm 2.2litre turbodiesel engine that is the mainstay of the Santa Fe range.
The most obvious benefit of having an SUV even larger than the Santa Fe is that it is roomier inside. Enough, in fact, for the Palisade Elite to boast eights seats in a 233 configuration.
Stepping up to the Limited reduces seating capacity to seven, the normal threeperson middle row seat being replaced by a pair of generously proportioned ‘‘captain’s chairs’’.
It is also adorned with enough USB ports for all occupants and if you are worried about where to store a drink, it comes with 16 cup holders.
What’s it like to look at?
Shrinking violets have no place in the North American SUV world, so the Palisade is styled to make an impression.
It’s a big boxy beast, with a lavishly metalled grille ensuring plenty of presence up front, contrasting with a rather less flamboyant rear. Moving on from the sheer bulk of the vehicle, considerable effort has gone into the detail of its look: the treatment of the front lights is eyecatching, and the sculpting along its flanks prevents the sides from looking too slabby.
Twentyinch alloys with 245/50 tyres are standard across the range and are a nice fit within the Palisade’s boldly creased wheel arches. LED lights are also provisioned allround, with the main headlights biLEDs.
What’s it like inside?
Working from back to front, one of the key features the big cabin delivers is a useful boot capacity — 311litres — even when the rear seats are raised. Split 60:40, the rear seats fold neatly into the floor when not required to give an extended flat boot area of 704 litres.
Those rear seats are genuinely fullsized. There is sufficient leg and headroom for adults, but shoulder space is a little constricted and the centre seat a little narrower compared to the middle row.
Being the Elite, the test car missed out on the sumptuous pair of seats in the middle row. Even so, the threeseat middle row was fine. Split 60:40 with a fold down centre armrest, the seats adjust foreandaft, and for backangle too. Leg, head and shoulder space is generous, the outboard middle row seats are heated, and the row is wellserved by trizone airconditioning.
Up front, the cabin provides similar room to that of the Santa Fe, but (and this is no surprise given its 27mm of additional ground clearance) the driving feels higher, and thus truly commanding.
There’s plenty of commonality in the frontofcabin layout, too: as with the Santa Fe Limited, the Palisade (at Elite and Limited levels) features a floatingstyle console with a large storage space underneath, and an armada of buttons on top. The buttons are similarly grouped, too, and include the same four large buttons that replace a conventional stick or stalk for drivebywire gear selection, similarly positioned next to a rotary dial for drive and terrainmode selection.
There’s a seveninch LCD display at the heart of the main instrument cluster flanked by conventional dials, and a main 10.25inch display cleverly extended from the instrument cluster to the centre of the dash. The main display’s primary roles are as home base for sat nav and an ICT suite which includes a 12speaker premium sound system.
Leather trim features throughout, and the mix of softtouch and metalfinish trim surfaces gives the front of the cabin a look that is technologically savvy and classy.
What comes as standard?
In addition to the various items already mentioned, key comfort and convenience features include wireless phone charging, smartphone mirroring, multidevice Bluetooth connectivity, a heated steering wheel, head up display, and power adjustment for the front seats. The Limited adds features such as front and middlerow seat chillers and interior LED lighting. Two very neat features are Driver Talk — an intercom system that allows those up front to chat to those in the back with ease — and Quiet Mode, which cuts sound to the rear speakers.