Hyundai Canada entrusted Auto123 with a 2023 Palisade Ultimate Calligraphy so that we could inspect it from every angle and report back to you. This is the first chapter our three-part long-term review.
A Palisade, by the way, is a rather luxurious four-wheel-drive mid-size SUV. Its starting price is $47,999, while the Ultimate Calligraphy model (our tester) retails for $56,849, plus fees and taxes.
The Palisade also happens to be the biggest Hyundai on the market right now.
A look at the Palisade's genealogy will give us an idea of the kind of mission the Korean automaker has entrusted to its spacious SUV.
First the Sante Fe
Hyundai Motor Company first introduced the Palisade in late 2018 as a 2019 model. However, to better understand its origins, we need to think back further, to the company’s Veracruz and Santa Fe XL models. Indeed, the Palisade came to replace the Santa Fe XL (christened Maxcruz in South Korea), which itself has sent the earlier Veracruz packing off to the museum.
The Veracruz enjoyed its heyday between 2006 and 2015. Also described as a mid-size SUV, it was at the time the largest beast on the Hyundai range, like the Palisade is today.
It was based on the platform of the Santa Fe, a model first introduced for the 2001 model-year to offer consumers a more spacious alternative to the Tucson.
When designing the third-generation Santa Fe in 2012, Korean engineers thought it would be a good idea to create an adjunct, by extending the wheelbase by 100 mm and adding a third row of seats. Thus was born the Santa Fe XL, which the company sold alongside its little brother, now called the Santa Fe Sport.
In the doing, that Santa Fe XL sounded the death knell for the Veracruz.
When Hyundai introduced the fourth-generation Santa Fe, it also took the opportunity to launch the Palisade - thus ending the career of the Santa Fe XL. Law of the jungle.
The Palisade unveiled by Hyundai at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show was inspired by the Grandmaster prototype unveiled earlier at the Busan Auto Show in South Korea.
More, more, always more...
Those who follow the automotive industry assiduously know how much individual models have increased in size over the years.
Take, for example, Hyundai’s Elantra sedan. When it debuted in 1990, its length was 4,375 mm; by 2000, it had reached 4,510 mm; in 2023, we're at 4,675 mm.
When we compare the dimensions of the Veracruz, Sante Fe XL and Palisade, we note the same phenomenon in terms of vehicle length, though in this case it space it concerns three distinct models.
Veracruz dimensions
- Length: 4840 mm
- Wheelbase: 2805 mm
- Width: between 1945 and 1970 mm
- Height: between 1750 and 1810 mm
- Weight: between 1,970 and 2,115 kg
Santa Fe XL dimensions
- Length: 4905 mm
- Wheelbase: 2800 mm
- Width: 1885 mm
- Height: between 1680 and 1690 mm
- Weight: between 1,749 and 2,057 kg
Palisade dimensions
- Length: 4980 mm, then 4995 mm*
- Wheelbase: 2900 mm
- Width: 1975 mm
- Height: 1750 mm
- Weight: between 1,820 and 2,060 kg
*If the Palisade's length has lengthened along the way, it's because of the mid-cycle refresh carried out last year and which the 2023 vintage abides by.
A slight redesign was unveiled in spring 2022 at the New York Auto Show, and which touches notably on the Palisade's facade, infotainment system, suspension and acoustics. But first things first, let's not rush things.
Next up: aesthetics and aerodynamics.
Specifications sheet of 2023 Hyundai Palisade Preferred
Specifications sheet of 2023 Hyundai Palisade Ultimate Calligraphy
Specifications sheet of 2023 Hyundai Palisade Urban
