Hyundai Palisade LX3

Hyundai's flagship SUV, the Palisade, has entered its second generation, and it's officially the most luxurious in its class. It promises luxury SUV things without the luxury SUV pricing. It looks like the Korean carmaker's going premium with this one, although the timing's bad due to...well, you know what happened.

2025 Hyundai Palisade

The all-new Hyundai Palisade aims to deliver world-class luxury at an affordable price. With a starting price of 43,830,000 Korean Won, this SUV is a bargain for its class.

2025 Hyundai Palisade

Starting with the design, Hyundai has gone above and beyond in the making of the Palisade LX3. Although it can be obviously mistaken for today's Range Rover, it's been given boot-shaped front lamps and taillights just for kicks, and a massive grille with an illuminating top. When you park it next to a Range Rover, you really can't say but on the plus side, it really is a poor man's Range Rover this all-new Palisade.

2025 Hyundai Palisade interior

2025 Hyundai Palisade interior

Now, let's get to know the new interior. On the driver's side, it dons the familiar steering wheel with braille symbols in the middle just like today's Hyundai models as well as the gear lever positioned behind the steering wheel, paddle shifters, a Panoramic Curved Display with AI assistant, ambient lighting, fingerprint authentication system, BOSE Premium Sound System, and for user-friendliness, buttons and knobs for the radio and climate control. The front passenger seat, meanwhile, sports a legrest reminiscent of the Nissan Teana from a distant past.

Although the Palisade LX3 is offered in a seven- or nine-seater variant, the seven-seater variant is credited with the Palisade LX3's premium luxury status thanks to the second-row seats that come with the available massagers. You won't find that in the Chevrolet Traverse.

Regarding boot space, with all seats present, it can carry up to 317 liters of goodies. With the third-row seats slide forward, it's now 348 liters. Fold the passenger seats down, you can expect roughly four times the boot space for more.

2025 Hyundai Palisade interior

Unlike the previous model, the Palisade LX3 is now powered only by the Smartstream G2.5T engine, which produces 281PS of power and 43kgf-m of torque. Mated only with an 8-speed AT, the front-wheel-drive variants' fuel economy is around 9.7km/L. The Palisade Hybrid uses the same engine but with the added 54kW electric motor and 6-speed automatic.

The Palisade is a sizable yet refined crossover that offers a luxurious driving experience for daily use. With the optional H-TRAC all-wheel drive system featuring an off-road driving mode, it comes close to the Range Rover in terms of aesthetics. Additionally, the all-new Palisade is equipped with a preview electronically-controlled suspension, allowing it to adapt seamlessly to various driving conditions, whether on tarmac, gravel, or snow.

The Palisade LX3 features a host of safety features ranging from the hallmark Hyundai SmartSense, the Digital Center Mirror, the Built-In Cam 2 Plus, the Surround View Distance Display, the second-row safe exit indicator, seat belt pre-tensioner, 10 airbags, and so on.

The all-new Palisade has it all; looks that mimic today's Range Rover, lights that kick, a luxurious interior, numerous high-tech features, and a turbocharged 2.5L petrol and hybrid to match its status. It really is a world-class luxury SUV without the luxury price tag, making it the bargain of the season. It doesn't stick to the status quo, it just rewrites it fair and square.

Available Colors: Robust Emerald Pearl, Creamy White Pearl, Shimmering Silver Metallic, Ecotronic Gray Pearl, Classy Blue Pearl, Cast Iron Brown Pearl, Galaxy Maroon Pearl, and Abyss Black Pearl.

Photo: Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Palisade

Named after the Pacific Palisades in California, which stays in tradition of naming Hyundai crossovers after American places, Hyundai's brand new flagship SUV, the Palisade, is all about the best of both worlds. It can be a family cruiser fit for their Oregon adventure, it can be a luxury car that can escort VIPs to the City of Dreams, it can be a getaway cruiser for you and your mates while traveling to Subic Bay, the Palisade does it all. So, what's it all about the new Palisade?

2019 Hyundai Palisade

2019 Hyundai Palisade

The Palisade comes from the bloodline of Santa Fe-based flagship SUVs in Hyundai history since the Veracruz in 2006 and the Maxcruz in 2013 and because this new model, which is an extended version of the latest Santa Fe TM, serves as the replacement of the Maxcruz, which is based on the old DM Santa Fe, the difference between them are beyond their dimensions as well as their luxury car-esque performance even Boom Madam wouldn't complain.

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?

2019 Hyundai Palisade interior

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.

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 34.75 million Won for the V6 and 36.22 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