BY H. THROTTLE
AUTOMOTIVE COLUMNIST
The 2023 Hyundai Palisade “Calligraphy,” was delivered this past week and what a handsome all-wheel drive, 3- row seating vehicle. This is a larger SUV with a V6/3.8L engine driving an 8-speed automatic transmission with steering wheel paddle shifters.
No need for turbo-boosting for this Palisade with more than adequate power and performance. The Palisade offers a wide choice of drive modes that include eco, comfort, sport, smart, and snow.
With the larger engine, the sports mode was exhilarating and using the eco mode increased the miles averaging 21 mpg overall.
The Palisade, like sister models of Tucson, and Santa Fe, has a full range of “Smartsense features.” Vehicle safety is so vital to modern day driving and the Palisade provides forward collision avoidance, lane keep assistance, blind spot warning, safe exit assist, driver attention alerts, high beam assists, smart cruise control, rear cross-traffic avoidance, remote parking assist, rear entry occupant alerts. The wide range of safety features earns the Palisade a five-star rating in frontal crash categories.
Design and style have been updated for 2003 with a new instrument panel, steering wheel design, cascading front grille, 20-inch multi-spoke allow wheel design, and new Nappa leather seating surfaces.
Overall, this is a top-line vehicle with high performance, attractive appearance, quality interior space with three-row seating.
The drive is flexible with the different modes, most of the test drive was performed in “Sport” mode. Especially useful is the blind spot dash picture of rear passing lanes, allowing a quick glimpses to make sure there is no lurking blind spot vehicle.
The Palisade has updated smart phone charging stations from 5W to 15W. The front captain seat has “Ergo-motion massaging features and all row seat heating.
The Hyundai Palisade is totally assembled in Ulsan, Korea.
The suggested manufacture’s price is $52,310 with all options included. Hyundai features one of the highest warranties with a 10 year/ 100,000-mile power-train warranty.
This is a luxury vehicle with the same name as the delicious Colorado grown peaches in Palisade, Colorado.