Hyundai Palisade large SUV priced from $60K + ORC

THE Hyundai Palisade large SUV has arrived in Australia in time for Christmas family road-trips, priced from $60,000 plus on-road costs, undercutting the Nissan Patrol by almost $16,000 to make it Australia’s most affordable new eight-seat SUV.

For those not requiring serious off-road or towing capability, the Palisade’s Prado-like pricing is likely to tempt people out of Toyota’s junior LandCruiser, withHyundai saying it also provides an alternative to a people mover – such as a Kia Carnival or Honda Odyssey – for people who “prefer the style, flexibility and driving qualities of an SUV”.

In addition, the Palisade offers an eight-seat SUV package that has until now been exclusive to bigger, thirstier, higher-priced vehicles such as the Nissan Patrol and LandCruiser 200 Series that occupy the upper-large SUV segment.

To achieve this, the Palisade matches the Kia Carnival in height (175cm) and width (197cm) – almost as wide as a Patrol – while its 498cm length makes it a centimetre shorter than the Prado.

It is substantially longer and wider than the Santa Fe seven-seat SUV with which it shares a showroom and segment, but can tow 200kg more than its smaller sibling, at 2200kg braked.

Like a Honda Odyssey, the top-spec Palisade variant can be specified with a bench-style second row for the full eight-seat capacity or a pair of captain’s chairs providing a gangway for access to the third-row bench.

The Palisade’s two specification levels – Palisade and Highlander – are offered with a choice of front-drive V6 petrol and all-wheel-drive four-cylinder turbo-diesel drivetrain options, both distributing drive through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 3.8-litre V6 petrol engine sends 217kW of power and 355Nm of torque to the front wheels, with official combined-cycle fuel consumption rated at 10.7 litres per 100 km.

Carrying a $4000 premium over the petrol, a 147kW/440Nm 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel powers all four wheels, with fuel consumption pegged at 7.3L/100km on the combined cycle.

Black leather upholstery, electric driver’s seat adjustment, tri-zone automatic climate control with ceiling vents and a 12-speaker Infinity premium audio system are all standard, as is a 10.25-inch touchscreen media system with native satellite navigation as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration plus the ability to simultaneously pair multiple Bluetooth devices.

There is also a 7.0-inch digital instrument panel, keyless entry and start, third-row intercom, ‘quiet mode’ audio isolation, an electric park brake with auto-hold, front and rear parking sensors, dusk-sensing headlights, self-dimming rearview mirror, reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring for the 18-inch alloys with full-size alloy spare.

Safety is catered for by six airbags including side curtains for all three rows plus a suite of active safety and driver assist technologies that include forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection that has several stages of operation between 10km/h and 160km/h.

Other standard-fit systems include adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, lane-keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, driver alertness monitor, high beam assist and an ultrasonic rear occupant alert that detects passengers and pets to prevent them being accidentally left in the car.

For an extra $11,000 the Highlander gets burgundy or beige Nappa premium leather with suede headlining, 12-way electric driver’s seat adjustment with memory, eight-way electric front passenger seat adjustment, heated and ventilated front and middle-row seats (heated only in eight-seat form), a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charger, hands-free powered tailgate, dual-panel tilt/slide sunroof, second-row window blinds and 20-inch alloys.

Additional safety tech on the Highlander comprises ‘safe exit assist’ which helps prevent opening doors onto oncoming cyclists, pedestrians and traffic, 360-degree cameras with blind spot view, rain-sensing wipers and a head-up display.

Eight-seat Palisade variants have five child seat anchorages with ISOFIX connection points in two second-row seats and one third-row seat, while seven-seaters have four child seat anchorages and three ISOFIX points.

There are also 16 cupholders and seven USB ports plus a plethora of in-cabin storage areas, a reclining third-row backrest, one-touch seat tilt/slide for easier third-row access.

Premium paint is $695, with 12-month/15,000km service intervals fixed at $399 for each of the first five maintenance visits on the petrol and $469 for the diesel.

Although the Palisade was revealed as a left-hook-only proposition two years ago, Hyundai has since developed the right-hand-drive model primarily for the Australian market as one of the brand’s first models to go through an evolution of its local dynamic tuning program.

Hyundai Motor Company Australia now gets involved early in the development of new models at its parent company’s Namyang research and development centre in South Korea, before the dynamics and ride comfort are assessed on local roads back in Australia.

As with other Hyundai models the Palisade comes with a five-year unlimited kilometre warranty, 12 months’ roadside assist and up to 10 years of sat-nav map updates if servicing is carried out at Hyundai dealerships.

2021 Hyundai Palisade pricing*

*Excludes on-road costs