An SUV fit for a king, the 2023 Hyundai Palisade is now bigger and better, facelifted approximately nine months following its global debut.
With a marginal increase in prices, the facelift model comes with a raft of styling, equipment and safety updates.
Locally-assembled (CBU), the flagship SUV is offered in four variants, across 2 powertrain options, in either eight- or seven-seater configurations.
Starting with the eight seaters, the 2.2L Diesel Palisade Executive 8 is priced from MYR 368,888, and the 3.8L Petrol Palisade Executive 8 from MYR 378,888.
For the seven seaters, the 2.2L Diesel Palisade Luxury 7 is priced from MYR 389,888, and the 3.8L Petrol Palisade Luxury 7 from MYR 399,888.
All prices are for Peninsular Malaysia, on-the-road excluding insurance, and a standard two-year/50,000 KM warranty.
Optionally, an extended warranty package (five-year/300,000 KM, three-year service package) priced at MYR 11,000 (petrol variants) and MYR 12,000 (diesel variants) is also offered.
Six exterior hues, e.g., Abyss Black Pearl, Moonlight Blue Pearl, Creamy White Pearl, Graphite Grey Metallic, Shimmering Silver Metallic, and Gaia Brown Pearl.
The new Hyundai Palisade stands at 4,995 MM long, 1,975 MM wide, 1,750 MM tall, and with a wheelbase spanning 2,900 MM.
Post-facelift, it now exudes a slightly longer front overhang (20 MM), while projecting a more upright, and square-cut sporty exterior.
Massive, its new blocky and very imposing gloss black front grille, accompanied by a new lower skid plate trim, commands the entire presence.
The rear now sports a shorter overhang (5 MM) to compensate for the front, adorning minimalistic contours, along with a redesigned rear bumper which integrates updated reflectors and a lower skid plate.
The redesigned head lamps are dual LED (low/high projection) units with Daytime Running Lights (DRL).
Tinted and integrated, the indicator lights form a visual extension of the blocks from the grille, while the LED DRLs have been relocated to the outer edges of the bumper and aligned vertically.
A new design, the tail lamps are simple and blocky, complementing the front well. It has a setup of full LED units, except for the diesel variants that adds a combo of halogen brake lights.
The side mirrors are electronically adjustable. They have LED turn signals, blind-spot indicators, heating, and puddle lamps.
It comes with new 20-Inch star-like-spoke alloy rims, wrapped in 245/50 R20 tyres.
The new Palisade has a simple, clean and minimalistic dashboard. It features a redesigned upper section with slim air-conditioning vents that stretch across the fascia, as well as a new multi-spoke steering wheel.
Main highlight being the screen setup that commands the top half of the layout. The dashboard gets a few types of upholstery depending on the interior trim option, and overall, the new design layout projects a rather premium appeal.
It features a 12.3-Inch TFT LCD full digital instrument cluster with a 2.6-Inch head-up display.
There are two seating setups available. The seven-seater option has a 2-2-3 layout, where the second row consists of two individual seats. The eight-seater has a 2-3-3 layout instead, with a 60:40 split-folding second- and third-row bench seats.
It is offered with a choice of Black synthetic leather and cloth interior trim, Burgundy nappa leather with cloth interior trim, and Warm Grey nappa leather with layered wood interior trim.
The front seats are power adjustable with a 12-way adjustment, cushion extension, lumbar support, and memory for the driver’s seat, and an eight-way adjustment for the front passenger seat.
All variants feature a heating and ventilation function for the front and second row seats, but only the seven-seater has both functions in the second row, while the eight-seater only gets heating.
Access to the third row is facilitated by a one-touch-release button of the second-row seats, which can also be folded flat from the rear of the vehicle by pressing a button within the luggage compartment.
It offers plenty of head, shoulder and legroom, thus front and rear occupants get ample space. The space is very generous due to the stocky and bulbous design of the body.
It has numerous storage areas including large sized door pockets, compartmentalised storage areas in the cascading centre console, including a cavern storage space and a decent-sized glove box.
There are multiple cup holders located all around the cabin.
There are multiple power outlets available. Six USB-C charging ports, four 12-V power sockets, and a wireless charging pad.
Each of the three rows of seats in all the variants get two USB-C ports, while the other four 12-V power outlets are located one each in the centre console, front and rear rows, and luggage compartment.
Meanwhile, the wireless charging pad is located in the centre console, and is juiced up to 15 Watts, up from a 5-Watt output.
It has 1,297-Litres of boot space with the second and third rows folded, or 509-Litres when all three rows of seats are upright.
The new Palisade features standard for all variants the Hyundai Smartsense ADAS suite, which includes Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go (SCC w/S&G), Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA), Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW), Rear Cross Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Lane Following Assist (LFA), Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist - Junction (FCA-JT), High Beam Assist (HBA), Driver Attention Warning (DAW), Leading Vehicle Departure Alert (LVDA), Safe Exit Alert (SEA), Rear Occupant Alert with sensors (ROA), and Multi Collision Brake (MCB).
Passive safety standard for all variants includes six airbags (driver, front passenger and side), seat belt anchors, reminders and pre-tensioners, ISOFIX (two in 2nd Row, one in 3rd Row), front and rear parking sensors, rear-view camera with Dynamic Parking Guide, advance tyres pressure monitoring system, Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Traction Control System (TCS), Hill-Start Assist Control (HAC), DownHill Brake Control (DBC), and Trailer Stability Assist (TSA).
There are four drive modes – Eco, Comfort, Sport and Smart.
The diesel variants (4WD), add on Traction mode select – Snow, Mud, and Sand.
It features a 12.3-Inch touchscreen infotainment system with split screen functionality.
The system supports AUX-in, USB, Bluetooth, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, voice recognition, and navigation.
The Palisade is offered with two engines. The 2.2-Litre CRDi in-line four-cylinder turbo diesel produces 197 HP at 3,800 RPM and 440 NM from 1,750 RPM to 2,750 RPM, while the 3.8-Litre Lambda II GDI V6 petrol delivers 291 HP at 6,000 RPM and 355 NM of torque at 5,200 RPM.
Both of the setups are paired to an eight-speed automatic e-shift (shift-by-wire) transmission.
Malaysian-spec, the petrol version is solely front-wheel-drive powered, while the diesel version is all-wheel-drive powered via the HTRAC system.
The petrol variants have an acceleration time from zero to 100 KM/H of 7.8 seconds, and a top speed of 210 KM/H. Whereas, it’s 10.2 seconds and 190 KM/H for the diesel variants.
It has a fuel tank capacity of 71-Litres and fuel consumption of 8.8L/100KM (diesel variants) - 10.8L/100 KM (petrol variants).
The new Palisade comes with Smart Key with Push Start Button, a multi-function steering wheel with paddle shifters, steering with manual tilt and telescopic adjustments, wireless charging system, auto light control, auto headlamps, auto wipers, power tailgate, dual-zone full-auto front air-conditioning, single-zone full-auto rear air-conditioning, interior rear-view mirror (Electronic Chromic Mirror (ECM)), power adjustable front seats with a 12-way adjustment, cushion extension, lumbar support, and memory for the driver’s seat, an eight-way adjustment for the front passenger seat, heating and ventilation seat functions for all variants (only the seven-seater have both functions in the second row, the eight-seater only gets heating), Smart One-touch Walk-in for 2nd row seats, One Touch 2nd row seats flat folding, dual-powered sunroof with tilting/sliding safety function, rear door curtain shades, powered exterior mirrors with puddle lamp and heating function, Electronic Parking Brake (EPB), front and rear parking sensors, and a reverse camera.
There are rear air-conditioning vents located in the cabin with a single-zone full-auto system.
It is very spacious and extremely comfortable, safe and suitable for a daily driver. Overall, the ride quality is firm, agile and very well-balanced. It has a smooth engine power and transmission delivery.
It has good sound insulation, covering all the NVH aspects. The cabin experience is very refined and peaceful.
The new Hyundai Palisade is a great family car. First, it offers an uber amount of space in the cabin thanks to its very massive and sporty build.
Second, its shell envelopes a very premium and sophisticated interior, which range from a myriad of advanced connectivity, safety systems and creature comfort features.
Overall, its build quality is very satisfactory inside and out, and the newly facelifted Hyundai Palisade is surely an SUV to consider.