2022 Hyundai PALISADE

Overview
Hyundai's Palisade SUV aims for a class-above experience and nearly nails it, especially on upper trims where its cabin could be confused for one of the Genesis brand's luxury vehicles. It's not a Genesis, despite the look and feel, and instead shares its platform with the also-excellent Kia Telluride. A smooth-running 3.8-liter V-6 is standard and is mated to an eight-speed automatic; front-wheel drive is the base setup, but all-wheel drive is also available. A generous amount of equipment is standard, including a ton of high-tech driver assists and modern infotainment connectivity features. The cabin is as roomy as it is comfortable and offers seating for up to eight passengers within the standard three-row layout.

What's New for 2022?
Hyundai has made several active safety equipment standard across the Palisade lineup for 2022, including rear cross-traffic collision avoidance and blind-spot collision avoidance, which intervene if the associated alerts of potential obstacles are ignored by the driver. All models also now come with side mirrors that feature integrated turn signals. On the top-spec Calligraphy model, the dark-brown leather upholstery is no longer offered.
Our Palisade of choice would be the mid-range SEL with the Premium package. All-wheel drive costs $1700, but consumers in more temperate climates could forgo this choice. With the Premium package, our SEL Palisade slides in just under $43,000. It still offers much of the SUV's best tech and luxury features, including the larger 10.3-inch infotainment system, in-dash navigation, and Hyundai's semi-autonomous driving mode. If you're considering going with an all-wheel-drive version of the Limited—which comes nicely equipped with nappa leather seating surfaces, heated and ventilated first and second rows, a 12-speaker Harman/Kardon audio system, just to name a few items—we suggest taking a look instead at the top-level Calligraphy, which costs only $925 more and comes standard with all-wheel drive.

Engine, Transmission, and Performance
The Palisade is powered by a 3.8-liter V-6. Coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, the engine's 291 horsepower is adequate for this application. The Palisade's transmission can be manually shifted with steering-wheel-mounted paddles. The gearbox shifts smoothly on its own, but there's some busy shuffling of the ratios when climbing hills. Front-wheel drive is standard, while all-wheel drive is optional on SE, SEL, and Limited trim levels; it's standard on the range-topping Calligraphy. All Palisades come standard with a robust transmission cooler and trailer pre-wiring and sway control. It can tow up to 5000 pounds when equipped with the dealer-installed trailer hitch. We tested an all-wheel-drive SEL, and it delivered adequate—if unexceptional—test results at our test track. In our testing, the Palisade went from zero to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds, and the Palisade needed 182 feet to stop from 70 mph. It proved to be slightly quicker than the Telluride but slower than the Chevrolet Traverse.