2024 Hyundai Palisade Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Distinctive styling sets the Palisade apart from its rivals, making it impossible to lose in a sea of lookalike, family-friendly SUVs. It might not appeal to everyone, but if you like the Palisade’s looks, chances are you’ll like most other things about it.

For 2024, Hyundai Canada offers the 2024 Palisade in two trims: Urban and Ultimate Calligraphy. The former costs $57,431 and the latter $61,031, including the $2,000 destination charge and other fees. Our test vehicle came in the U.S. equivalent of Ultimate Calligraphy trim. (The test unit is in U.S.-only Night Edition trim. You can get close to it in Canada by selecting individual blacked-out accessories, but it’s not available as a package.)

The Palisade Ultimate Calligraphy has an artificial suede headliner that seems decadent on a mass-market midsize family SUV. That, plus the quality upholstery, metal speaker grilles, striped dashboard and door trim, and overall sophistication of the interior makes a loaded Hyundai Palisade look and feel like a luxury SUV.

Every 2024 Palisade has a 3.8-litre V6 engine generating 291 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. An eight-speed automatic transmission powers the SUV’s wheels, and in Canada, all-wheel drive (AWD) is standard equipment. The maximum towing capacity is 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds) and the Palisade offers 20.3 centimetres of ground clearance.

Several driving modes are available. They include Eco, Comfort, Sport, Smart, and Snow. In addition, when traveling off-road, you can lock the AWD system to evenly split engine power between the front and rear wheels. However, we recommend keeping the Palisade on paths more traveled because it’s not meant for tackling challenging terrain.

The V6 engine offers plenty of power and satisfying acceleration. The transmission always seems to be in the right gear at the right time, and on dirt and gravel roads the AWD system expertly distributes the power depending on traction and conditions. According to Natural Resources Canada, a 2024 Palisade with AWD should consume 11.1 litres per 100 kilometres in combined driving. On our testing loop, the SUV averaged 15.0 L/100 km while in Comfort mode. Hyundai tunes the suspension for a firmer, more connected ride, but it’s not uncomfortable. When driving in the city, the excellent outward visibility helps when parking and maneuvering in tight quarters, as does the standard top-down surround-view camera.

Unexpectedly, the Palisade displays some athleticism when threading mountain and canyon roads. In this environment, it trades the firm city and highway ride for gentle body motions that gradually react to pavement heaves, dips, and lumps for predictable handling free of sudden weight transfer and head toss. Better yet, the brakes withstood some abuse without grumbling, shuddering, or fading. Overall, driving a Hyundai Palisade is a simple pleasure. The least appealing thing about it is the real-world fuel economy.

In Canada, the Palisade Urban comes with artificial leather upholstery, while premium Nappa leather is employed on the Ultimate Calligraphy trim.

In addition, heated and ventilated eight-way power-adjustable front seats with memory settings and an adjustable thigh support cushion for the driver, a heated steering wheel, and heated outboard rear seats are standard equipment in Canada, as is a dual-panel sunroof. The Calligraphy has an Ergo Motion massage function for the driver.

Equipped with all of these upgrades, our test vehicle was quite comfortable. It would be nice if Hyundai made the memory settings, adjustable thigh bolsters, and Ergo Motion comfort functions available for the front passenger.

Between the front seats, the Palisade offers configurable storage. Keep the lid closed, and it serves as a shallow console-top tray. Open it, and you’ll find a large storage bin. You can transform half of it into cupholders while using the other half as a wireless smartphone charger. Separately, a sizable bin lives under the centre armrest with a small tray to contain items that might easily be lost. Hyundai also provides a floor tray under the bridge-style centre console and trays carved into the door panel armrests.

Second-row passengers enjoy a three-person bench seat in Urban trim, while captain’s chairs are optional on Urban and standard on Ultimate Calligraphy.

Comfort in the second row is excellent, and all trim levels include a rear climate control panel. Side window sunshades are standard in Canada. Hyundai offers USB charging ports built into the front seatbacks, and the storage pockets include a separate netted sleeve made specifically for smartphones.

To enter the third-row seat, you can squeeze between the captain’s chairs or use the standard one-touch access function. Clearance is decent, and the third row is more comfortable and roomy than what you’ll find in most of the Palisade’s rivals. Hyundai includes standard third-row heating and air conditioning vents.

In the back, a hands-free power tailgate is standard. It senses the proximity of the key fob and, after a few seconds, will automatically power open without requiring you to dance around on one foot while waving the other one beneath the bumper. Obviously, that’s dangerous if there is ice and snow underfoot.

The smart tailgate feature is great when you need it but irritating when you’re simply standing nearby talking with someone. Especially when you’re parked on a hill, that could allow things to fall out of the cargo hold. You can turn it off through the infotainment system if you’d rather not use it.

The Palisade provides 509 litres of cargo space behind the third-row seat, including the generous underfloor storage compartment. Fold the third-row seat down to create 1,297 litres of cargo capacity, and with the second-row seats folded in half, cargo volume jumps to 2,447 litres.

A 12.3-inch digital instrumentation panel is the standard infotainment system in Canada, and it’s excellent.

All Palisades have a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation. It supports Bluetooth connectivity, SiriusXM satellite radio, and a rear-seat Quiet Mode. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard, but they require a cable plugged into a USB-A port to use them. Wireless charging is included in the Ultimate Calligraphy trim.

Since we didn’t have a cable on hand (and certainly not one compatible with USB-A), we elected to stream music instead of running Apple CarPlay. That kept us within the native Hyundai technology, where the voice recognition system worked well. However, while listening to SiriusXM, it was unable to find reggae music even when we specifically requested Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio. Yet it had no trouble finding Alt Nation when we asked for it.

Hyundai’s Bluelink connected services are included on all Palisades sold in Canada with a three-year subscription included. Highlights include remote engine starting, automatic collision notification, SOS emergency assistance with panic notification, and more.

Audiophiles will appreciate the standard 12-speaker Harman Kardon premium sound system. The speakers provide excellent sound quality for this segment, and the test vehicle had speaker grilles that would do a Mercedes-Benz proud. Additional available technologies worth noting include a digital rearview mirror, and a semi-autonomous remote parking system that works when you’re standing outside of the Palisade. The available head-up display is also excellent, showing plenty of data including upcoming navigation instructions, the operational status of safety features, and visual blind-spot warnings. Unfortunately, it did not play nice with cheap polarized sunglasses.

Hyundai equips the 2024 Palisade with its generously equipped collection of driving assistance systems. It includes forward-collision warning with pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, a blind-spot view camera system, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, intersection assist, safe exit assist, automatic high-beam headlights, front and rear parking sensors, and a rear-seat reminder system.

Highway Driving Assist (HDA) is also standard. This pairs the adaptive cruise control system with curve speed control and lane-centring assist to provide a hands-on driving system for highway travel. On the Ultimate Calligraphy trim, HDA includes a lane-change assist feature. During our evaluation, HDA worked beautifully, demonstrating just how close Hyundai is to offering a hands-free version of the technology.

The rear-seat reminder has ultrasonic sensing to provide alerts for 24 hours after you’ve locked and left the vehicle. It also notifies you of any movement inside via a smartphone app while activating the horn and lights to get the attention of passers-by.

Should a collision occur, know that the 2024 Palisade earns a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Valid for the 2024 calendar year, this rating does not reflect the SUV’s performance in a new moderate overlap frontal-impact test that measures rear occupant safety because the IIHS hasn’t performed that assessment yet.

Crash tests from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are incomplete. The SUV gets the top five-star rating for side-impact collisions and a four-star rollover resistance rating, but there aren’t any frontal impact test results to reference.

The 2024 Hyundai Palisade isn’t particularly fuel efficient, but that’s one of the worst things you can say about it. Otherwise, the Palisade is an excellent value. It also has a five-year, 100,000-kilometre new vehicle warranty and five years of roadside assistance.

Thankfully, there is more to this SUV than just a good deal. It offers genuine substance wrapped in thoughtful packaging, and the 2024 Palisade suffers few flaws. If you’re shopping for a new midsize three-row SUV and you like the way this Hyundai looks, you owe it to yourself to take a test drive.

But if you’re not a fan of the styling, there are plenty of other SUVs to consider in this segment. They include the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Explorer, GMC Acadia, Honda Pilot, Jeep Grand Cherokee L, Kia Telluride, Nissan Pathfinder, Mazda CX-90, Subaru Ascent, and Volkswagen Atlas.

Note: Images show a US model.