Hyundai has revitalized its reputation over the past decade. The Korean brand has been smashing sales records. And the secret sauce has not been much of a secret; Hyundai excels at building crossovers, providing distinctive style and value. Perhaps the greatest testament to Hyundai’s efforts is the Palisade, its flagship three-row midsize SUV. Paying $50,000-plus for a Hyundai would have felt like madness not so long ago. The Palisade has made that feel not just sensible but like one of the best values on the market.

Like its corporate cousin, the Kia Telluride, the Hyundai Palisade makes owning a family car feel easy. Desirable offerings like the extra fancy Calligraphy trim make driving one feel like not much of a sacrifice. And buyers are noticing. Hyundai sold more than 110,000 Palisades in 2024, representing a year-over-year growth of over 20%. Sales are up again through the first half of 2025. Those numbers come with an all-new 2026 model, ready to hit dealers. And Hyundai now faces one of the great challenges in the automotive industry: how do you improve a vehicle that was already great.

What’s Changed For The 2026 Hyundai Palisade?

The Palisade is all-new for the 2026 model year. Hyundai overhauled the engine lineup. The Palisade replaces its 3.8-liter V6 with a new 3.5-liter V6. And a 2.5-liter hybrid option (arriving in fall 2025) delivers more power, 329 horsepower, and improved efficiency, up to an estimated 34 mpg. Buyers looking for more off-road capability can opt for a new XRT Pro trim, which elevates the Palisade’s off-roading game with an extra inch of ground clearance, all-terrain tires, functional recovery points, and an upgraded H-Trac AWD system with terrain modes.

Hyundai tweaked the Palisade’s exterior styling. The three-row SUV now appears boxier and more stately, featuring a new front fascia. Its interior is more spacious and feels more premium with modern tech enhancements like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and 100W-capable USB-C ports that can charge laptops. Buyers can opt for helpful new features, such as a factory-installed tow hitch and integrated dash cam. And noise-reducing acoustic glass now comes standard on the windshield and front windows.

Exterior Looks: Even More Bold, Modern, And Sophisticated

Hyundai’s exterior design mantra for the new Palisade was “bold, modern, sophisticated.” The Palisade already was those things. Now, it’s even more so. Hyundai gave the Palisade a confident new face, featuring an expansive grille and large, vertical rectangular LED lights. I thought it would be a lot of look in pictures. But in person, it’s the handsomest Palisade front end thus far.

The new model looks boxier than the first-gen model with a longer wheelbase, shorter overhangs, and chunkier fenders. The XRT Pro trim with its extra clearance, bright red tow hooks, and clipped overhangs can enhance that effect. The Palisade’s side view silhouette gives off Range Rover and Lincoln Navigator vibes, with blacked-out B and C-pillars and a subtle roofline that tapers to the rear. A thicker metallic feature line now stretches from the taillights to the top of the front windshield. The Calligraphy trim’s 21-inch alloy wheels further amplify the Palisade’s luxuriousness.

The Palisade is not as design-forward as Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 or Santa Fe crossovers, but it comes off similarly. Elements that seem eye-catching and avant-garde in pictures make sense in person. The Palisade looks memorable in a segment that can seem very ubiquitous.

Interior: Like a Cushy, High-End Couch

Hyundai wanted the Palisade’s interior to feel comforting and family-focused. The brand achieved that by evoking “timeless mid-century furniture.” Think high-end, comfortable couch from Restoration Hardware. The Palisade’s interior uses plush materials. My Calligraphy test vehicle had the new brown Nappa leather with a suede headliner and subtle wood trim on the dash – and the edges are rounded.

Competitors have gone screen-forward with their interiors, but Hyundai tucked the tech into the background with the new Palisade. Instead of floating as a central design element, the dual 12.3-inch screens now recess into the dash and orient toward the driver. Hyundai offers large physical and haptic controls for the stereo and HVAC systems, complete with a palm rest to steady your hand while in use. Though Hyundai does provide helpful nods to our tech-fueled reality, like phone holders built into the rear cupholders.

I spent most of my first drive experience, naturally enough, in the front of the vehicle. It was a comfortable place to experience what turned out to be about a seven-hour day. Front area storage felt lacking; the door sill pocket and under-console storage areas were difficult to access and use. My drive partner and I had to do some jiu jitsu to organize our respective beverages, devices and glasses after a coffee stop. Hyundai also has the Engine Start/Stop button on a steering wheel stalk and the drive mode buttons on the dash… I would have had those positions reversed to more easily access the drive modes while moving.

Infotainment: Not The Star Of The Show

The Hyundai Palisade’s infotainment system is simple but effective. It’s not as feature-rich as other operating systems. But it’s responsive. Buttons are large and readable, with multicolored pictograms for easier visibility (a key issue with the previous generation). The main takeaway from my test drive was how little you needed to use the native OS. Stereo, HVAC, and seat controls all had physical buttons; Hyundai had us use CarPlay-based Google Maps for navigation.

Powertrain & Driving: Smooth Operator

Hyundai only had ICE vehicles available for this first drive event. I drove a Calligraphy trim for the on-road portion, fitted with the 3.5-liter naturally-aspirated V6. It puts out 287 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque and pairs with an 8-speed automatic. I switched to an XRT Pro model with the same engine for the off-road course. The hybrid, offering more horsepower and dramatically better fuel economy, will hit dealers in fall 2025.

My Palisade drive did not replicate the typical commute for most Palisade owners (at least those that don’t own wineries). We traversed about 100 miles of curvy two-lane Northern California mountain roads and saw a lot of grapes. The Palisade isn’t especially sporty or quick. But it delivers adequate power smoothly. The steering is perfectly weighted. And the suspension controls the car’s weight admirably in all but the hardest and fastest of corners. Normal driving feels relaxing, and the car performs well when things get more spirited. Most drivers will never push the Palisade hard enough to exceed its considerable performance band.

The only real quirk I experienced with the Palisade was some brief hesitancy from the transmission before downshifting. It felt like the engine was eager to upshift aggressively to save fuel. It would then take the transmission a half-beat to rouse from its slumber, recalibrate, and deliver the required revs when called upon suddenly. This was consistent, though not as egregious as lag I’ve experienced in the Volkswagen Atlas.

Hyundai addressed one complaint many had about the first generation: road noise. Noise-reducing acoustic glass for the windshield and front windows now comes standard. The Calligraphy trim I tested also added it for the rear side windows. The Palisade felt quiet, relaxing, and borderline Lexus-like when cruising on mountain roads. I would be curious to test it on the interstate, which we mostly stayed away from. – it was above 80 mph where I found the noise became an issue when driving the previous generation. That is no longer an issue.

Fuel economy with the combustion engine remained underwhelming. The Palisade did switch to a smaller displacement engine,but it’s still a naturally-aspirated V6 and drinks fuel like one. We don’t have the full EPA numbers yet for the 2026 Palisade, but we averaged a little over 19 mpg during our drive stints, with a mix of stop-and-go driving, hill climbs and 60 mph cruising. That doesn’t make the Palisade an egregious offender for this segment. but it’s worth noting Mazda put a six-cylinder in its base CX-90, and the EPA rates it for 25 mpg combined.

Off-Road Driving In The XRT Pro

I drove the new Palisade XRT Pro on a curated off-road course, which was essentially a mild mountain trail with an artificial mogul course to test articulation. It wasn’t terribly taxing. But it approximated the sort of “off-roading” most owners would (and should) do in a Palisade: getting to a recreation site rather than the drive itself being the recreation. The Palisade XRT Pro performed fairly well in that context.

The XRT Pro proved nimble on a narrow trail, except for one tight hairpin that required a three-point turn. It handled the bumps well, and the XRT Pro’s 8.4 inches is plenty of clearance if you’re not climbing rock shelves. The terrain camera is not very high-res, but helpful as visibility over the hood can be limited. I did have one moment where it felt like both rear wheels lost traction on the moguls (though I think I approached them faster than I was supposed to). I did not notice too much difference between the mud and sand modes.

The XRT Pro trim should sell well because it looks cool. It will handle bad weather and the uneven roads to your mountain cottage. It doesn’t make the Palisade a Lexus LX or even a Honda Pilot Trailsport. And I’m not sure that it provides that dramatic of an upgrade over the already handy Palisade.

Verdict & Pricing: Still Great, Still Great Value

Pricing for the 2026 Hyundai Palisade is straightforward. It starts at $38,935 MSRP for the Palisade SE FWD trim. It ranges up to $56,060 MSRP for the Calligraphy AWD trim; the hybrid is a $2,220 option on available trims. Most trims, including the XRT Pro, start between $40,000 and $50,000 MSRP, with the Limited and Calligraphy trims starting above $50,000. All Palisades have a $1,495 destination and handling fee that must be added to these prices. I think the best value is for the buyer luxing out a Calligraphy trim rather than paying the same ~$60,000 for a lower trim full-size or luxury SUV.

The first-generation Hyundai Palisade was among the best and most affordable three-row midsize SUV options. The second-generation Palisade will stay right in that conversation. It delivers a compelling all-around package that makes everyday family driving feel less like a chore. If you avoid looking at the kid-created carnage in the backseat, it will transition seamlessly to the rare date night. And it does that at a very reasonable price. I haven’t driven the hybrid yet. But with its performance, its projected fuel economy, and Hyundai’s track record with hybrids, that power unit should be worth waiting for.