2020 Hyundai Palisade SEL AWD Review - Silk Road

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey
Fast Facts

2020 Hyundai Palisade SEL AWD Fast Facts

3.8-liter V6 (291 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 262 lb-ft @ 5,200 rpm)
Eight-speed automatic transmission, all-wheel drive
19 city / 24 highway / 21 combined (EPA Estimated Rating, MPG)
12.3 city, 9.6 highway, 11.1 combined (NRCan Rating, L/100km)
Base Price
$35,200 (U.S) / $45,826.20 (Canada)
As Tested
$43,155 (U.S.) / $47,936.20 (Canada)
Prices include $1,045 destination charge in the United States and $2,010 for freight, PDI, and A/C tax in Canada and, because of cross-border equipment differences, can't be directly compared.

The Hyundai Palisade/ Kia Telluride pairing share many common components. Where the two large crossovers most obviously diverge is stylistically.

The Kia is boxy and bold, looking trail-ready, even though it’s not an off-roader (nor will it ever see much off-roading beyond a grass parking area at the soccer complex). Hyundai’s counterpart, however, softens the edges as bit, rounding things off. And while both have interiors that belie their pricing, Hyundai’s is more modern minimalist than what’s on offer in the Kia.

Both feature a 3.8-liter V6 that makes 291 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. Both have an eight-speed automatic transmission, and both are available with all-wheel drive. Both can seat seven or eight, both can tow up to 5,000 pounds, and both are similarly equipped and price. They’re even just about the same size.

[Get Hyundai Palisade pricing here!]

The biggest difference, aside from exterior and interior design, is the on-pavement handling experience. Power feels about the same, and the transmission holds on to gears like a kid clutching his or her favorite toy. Both vehicles have similarly smooth rides, but the Hyundai is a tad silkier.

The Hyundai’s steering is a bit less artificial in feel, and the Palisade is a bit more engaging, relative to the type of vehicle it is, when challenged by a curving off-ramp. Differing spring and damper rates account for this.

Like the Telluride, the Palisade charmed me. It’s just a well-done family crossover in all respects. Relatively engaging to drive, comfortable, and well-equipped for the price.

If you told me 10 years ago that Kia and Hyundai would be the brands building arguably the two best three-row crossovers on the market, I’d look at you like you’d just told me life in 2020 would be halted by a pandemic. Hell, if you told me that two years ago, I’d look at you as if you’d just told me a president of the United States said drinking bleach was a way to cure a virus.

The timing is interesting, too. Both these vehicles launched in 2019, and so did the newest generation of Ford’s Explorer. I found the Explorer to be overpriced on my first drive, and I recently had a Highlander through the house (not literally). While I found it to be quite nice, its on-road behavior wasn’t quite as pleasing as what the Kia, and especially the Hyundai, offer.

One of my major complaints – a complaint many a car reviewer shares – about this business is that too many times, automakers send us top-trim vehicles for evaluation. Fully loaded models instead of the trims that sell in the best volume.

That wasn’t the case with the Palisade Hyundai shipped me. This one was a mid-trim SEL, including standard features such as forward-collision avoidance assist with pedestrian detection, lane-keeping assist, driver-attention warning, rear-occupant alert, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, safe-exit assist, rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, 18-inch wheels, LED daytime running lights, high-beam assist, a trailering package, dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth, captain’s chairs, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, heated front seats, multiple USB ports, adaptive cruise control, and lane-following assist.

A $2,200 Convenience Package replaced the 18-inch wheels with 20s, and added auto-leveling rear suspension, LED taillights, front park distance warning, power liftgate, wireless phone charger, ultrasonic rear occupant alert, third-row USB, rear window sunshades, and 7-inch digital gauge-cluster screen.

For $2,400 more, you get the Premium Package, which includes leather seats, heated steering wheel, heated second-row seats, and power fold/recline third-row seats. A second-row bench replaced captain’s chairs at no cost, and $900 paid for a sunroof.

A $1,250 Drive Guidance option added factory nav, highway-drive assist, satellite radio, in-car intercom, BlueLink connected technology, and a BlueLink-based remote start. Carpeted floor mats added $160.

With the $1,045 destination fee, the $35,200 base price went to $43,155. Fuel economy is EPA-rated at 19 mpg city/24 mpg highway/21 mpg combined.

Hyundai and Kia have come up with strong entrants in a crowded, competitive class. The Telluride will appeal to those who want to project a tough, masculine image, while the Palisade appears to be the more urbane of the two.

Which one you pick will be up to your style sensibilities, but either one will do the trick.

[Images © 2020 Tim Healey/TTAC]

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Fourthreezee Fourthreezee on May 26, 2020

    This X1,000! Oh, and Orange Man Bad! Leaving this site now.

  • Legacygt Legacygt on May 26, 2020

    Since the biggest differences between the Telluride and Palisade are cosmetic I'll focus on that. I find them both interesting to look at although neither is perfect. I prefer the font end of the Telluraide and the rear of the Palisade. But given that they clearly spent a lot of time differentiating the styling (GM for example does less to differentiate cars that sell a much wider price spreads) there's one area where they really missed the ball. They chrome around the side windows is a mess on both cars. I'm not sure what they were thinking. The Palisade wraps around the windows but then comes down in the middle of the C pillar rather than meeting the bottom chrome strip. And the Telluride has a wavy, stunted chrome strip below the windows that looks like they ran out of chrome.

  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
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