2023 Hyundai Palisade review: Australian first drive

As a relatively new offering in the large SUV segment for Australia, more than 6000 Hyundai Palisades have been sold here since the first model landed on our shores in 2020, showing Aussies love a bit of bang for their buck if they can get it.

Though still selling in smaller numbers than its Santa Fe sibling, what Hyundai calls its premium SUV just got a little more sophisticated for the year ahead.

Despite retaining the same powertrains, a load of new tech and safety gear has been thrown at the facelifted model for 2023, making it an even more compelling option for families seeking oodles of space and lots of high-end features.

Pricing and features

For 2023, there are two grades of the Palisade – the Elite and Highlander carry across from the previous model.

The entry-level ‘Palisade’ variant has now gone from the line-up as it didn’t prove as popular with customers.

Both grades are available with a choice of front-wheel drive petrol or all-wheel drive diesel powertrains and configured with either seven or eight seats.

With a petrol engine, the Elite costs $65,900 or the higher-spec Highlander costs $75,900. If opting for diesel power, the Elite is $69,900 and the Highlander $79,900 (all prices before on-road costs). Premium paint is available for all variants, which adds $695.

Although the gear underneath remains much the same in the facelift compared to the model that launched here in 2020 (with some tweaks to refine it here and there), the differences for MY23 are tech and safety focused – headlined by the debut of Hyundai’s Bluelink smartphone connectivity system in Australia.

Hyundai BlueLink – how does it work?

At its simplest, Hyundai says Bluelink provides, via a smartphone, control of basic functions such as monitoring of tyre pressures, brakes, and airbags, alongside remote starting.

Remote door locking and window controls are available too, protected by the phone’s PIN system or biometric scanning.

Hyundai also touts real-time navigation via ‘Connected Routing’, using an inbuilt SIM and cloud-based server instead of a traditional internal sat-nav. ‘Last Mile Navigation’ allows you to transfer directions from your car to the app to provide on-foot assistance via augmented reality or Google Maps.

Other functions include a ‘find my car’ option and saveable trip summaries, plus voice recognition for climate controls.

More importantly for families, Bluelink brings bonus safety features to the large SUV, such as automatic collision notification and an SOS emergency call button.

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What else does the 2023 update bring?

Alongside Bluelink, other new features for the facelift version include ventilated seats in the second row of eight-seat variants for the first time, a revised head-up display, USB ports upgraded from type A to C, a more powerful wireless charging pad and an infotainment screen and digital cluster that have both grown considerably to 12.3 inches, as well as a digital rear-view mirror.

The digital mirror, also making its Australian debut, uses a camera mounted to the back of the car’s spoiler and provides a 44-degree angle to give the driver a better look at what’s behind them than a conventional 20-degree unit.

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There are a few aesthetic changes to be found in the MY23 Palisade too, including Hyundai’s new parametric grille design – a jewelled black look for the Elite and soft chrome for the Highlander – with vertically-stacked LED headlights, a four-spoke steering wheel and fresh 20-inch alloy wheel designs.

Above the Elite, the Highlander also gains new skid plate designs, a full-width high-mounted LED stop light and a separated hidden-type tail-light design.

The facelifted 2023 Hyundai Palisade has now received a five-star ANCAP safety rating – bettering its predecessor’s four-star result.

All petrol and diesel variants of the Palisade made since May and sold from this month onwards in Australia and New Zealand are covered by the new ranking awarded by crash-testing authority ANCAP, while any cars manufactured prior to that retain the four stars.

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The lack of a front-centre airbag and less sophisticated autonomous emergency braking (AEB) were to blame for the previous four stars, but the new model now has both a centre airbag and improved AEB performance.

Other improvements also include an intelligent speed limit information system (even if it is a little too nannying – sounding an alarm four times at just 1km/h over the limit) and multi-collision braking.

With the addition of a front-centre airbag, the MY23 Palisade now has seven airbags and comes standard with a full suite of Hyundai SmartSense safety technologies – many of which are new or revised for 2023 – including blind-spot collision avoidance assist and blind-spot view monitor (Highlander only), forward collision-avoidance assist, lane following and lane-keep assist, parking collision avoidance assist, surround-view monitor and more.

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Comfort and space

Both the Elite and Highlander offer plush accommodation that combines luxury and family living into one.

The Elite gets black quilted leather seat upholstery and a cross-line alloy-look trim, which in no way feels basic or entry-level, while the Highlander adds black Nappa leather with better quilting and a gloss black/pinstripe trim.

Beyond that, the top-spec version can also be had with warm grey and dark khaki Nappa leather with unique wood-look trim, dependent on the exterior paint colour chosen.

All materials feel very high quality and the seats throughout are incredibly comfortable. An optimal driving position can easily be found thanks to electric seat adjustment, which the front passenger also gets in the range-topping grade – with memory function too.

Even in the Elite, the front row gets heated seats, and second-row passengers have a manual sliding arm to adjust legroom too.

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In seven-seat versions, the second row is made up of two captain’s chairs, offering more space for rear passengers to spread out while giving the driver or front passenger the opportunity to catch a glimpse through the gap between seats at what little kids or grumpy teens in the third row might be getting up to!

Additional luxuries for Highlander variants include heated and ventilated front and second-row seats, and wing-out aircraft-inspired second-row headrests.

Plenty of creature comforts are found throughout the entire cabin, showing this is a vehicle made with the whole family in mind. There are USB-C ports for every row (yes, even the very back!), digital climate controls in the second row and a total of 16 cup holders.

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While stretchy map pockets, a sunroof (single pane for the Elite and dual for the Highlander) and heaps of legroom are great for family-focused buyers, the door bins could do with a little more space – only really proving useful for regular-sized drinks bottles, with no extra nooks and crannies for toys.

Rounding out the family functionality are three ISOFIX anchor points, two in the second row and one in the third, and two top tether points for the middle bench (three if an eight-seater) plus another two at the very back.

With all three rows up, the boot space is not huge, rated at 311 litres, but it would do for a few school bags or a week’s food shop. If most of the time you only needed four or five seats and had the third row down, you’re in business, as that number is bumped up to 704L.

Lose the second row as well and you’ve basically got a van’s worth of luggage space, rising further to 2447L.

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On the road

Each trim grade is available with the same choice of a 3.8-litre petrol V6 with front-wheel drive, or a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel with all-wheel drive, both teamed with an eight-speed automatic transmission – as in the previous model.

However, for 2023 Hyundai has made a number of small revisions to improve the Palisade’s driving experience.

The transmission has been tweaked to produce smoother, more refined gearshifts – making the torque converter feel like a good match for either engine – and the chassis structure has been modified to improve body rigidity and safety.

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Hyundai’s third-gen Selective Damping Control technology is part of a suspension upgrade that also includes revised spring rates to improve ride and handling, while the multi-terrain mode controls have been adjusted and more insulation, as well as thicker glass, have been added to reduce noise in the cabin.

As a result, wind noise only becomes intrusive in super blowy conditions (as we experienced on the launch in rural NSW) and tyre/road sounds are kept to a hushed minimum.

Power for the petrol is 217kW and 147kW for the diesel, with torque rated at 355Nm and 440Nm respectively. Neither is a slouch, though the diesel is the better all-rounder for load-lugging torque, fuel economy and traction thanks to its all-wheel-drive system.

Both offer prompt off-the-mark acceleration and decent performance for overtaking considering the Palisade’s size, but in both wet and dry conditions the front-drive petrol easily spins its wheels under harder acceleration.

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However, the petrol’s power is more consistently available, aside from feeling a tad lazy coming away from traffic lights, whereas the diesel feels slightly more stunted in the mid-range where you’d usually expect its sweet-spot to be – only demonstrating more pep in its step under 60km/h or over 90km/h. Braking meanwhile is solid and dependable, with no need to apply too much pressure in either weather condition.

Again, considering its size, the Palisade’s claimed range of 7.3L/100km on the combined fuel economy cycle for the diesel is pretty respectable, though less so in the petrol that offers 10.3L/100km.

We found the best fuel consumption came when the Smart drive mode was selected, even better than the more obvious Eco mode, where we achieved 6.9L/100km with freeway driving in the diesel and 9.9L/100km in the petrol.

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In a manner befitting its premium intentions, the Palisade’s ride stands out as incredibly smooth thanks to its front MacPherson strut and rear multi-link suspension arrangements, which have been specifically tuned for local roads and hide the big SUV’s 2200kg weight and size well.

Composed over almost all surfaces – with the exception of the worst potholes – the Palisade never feels unsettled or bouncy.

Steering is smooth too, not requiring too many turns lock-to-lock in manoeuvring and predictable round faster bends, with any flick of the hand in either direction revealing the Palisade to be alert and ready to respond.

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Ownership

Hyundai Australia offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, complimentary roadside assistance for 12 months on new vehicles, a 1500km complimentary first service and lifetime capped-price servicing at intervals of 12 months or 15,000km.

Pricing for each service is $399 for the 3.8-litre V6 petrol or $489 for the 2.2-litre diesel over the first five years.

When servicing with Hyundai, customers also receive an extra 12 months of complimentary roadside assist for up to 10 years, along with updates to their sat-nav system for the duration.

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VERDICT

With the 2023 Palisade, Hyundai has made some worthwhile and noticeable improvements for customers after a premium SUV, going beyond fresh looks and a few touch-ups here and there.

Its cabin in particular is full of luxuries normally found on cars beyond even this vehicle’s top asking price of $80K, showing that Hyundai is now competing at a level it hasn’t done in the past.

The arrival of Bluelink technology makes for a really interesting proposition from the Korean carmaker, one definitely worth having on your test-drive list if you’ve got the cash and need a large SUV for hauling lots of people.

While the Highlander ticks all the boxes you could ask for, there’s still a whole lot of bang for your buck in the Elite – with just those few extra touches like greater paint choices, different wheels, a head-up display, remote smart parking, and blind-spot view monitor to set it apart.

Even with the Elite, the Palisade represents money well spent to get a lot of car for less than $70K.

2023 Hyundai Palisade specifications