2026 Hyundai Palisade First Drive: Take That, Telluride!
Sibling rivalry drives Hyundai to build a better Palisade SUV.
Sibling rivalry is a heck of a motivator. Venus and Serena Williams used it as fuel to push themselves to the heights of professional tennis. Alex and Edward Van Halen, who began their musical careers on guitar and drums, respectively, used it to swap instruments and become virtuosos in their fields. Automakers aren’t immune from this dynamic, either. In the late 1960s and ’70s, internal rivalries helped drive the muscle car wars between GM’s Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac, Ford’s Ford and Mercury, and Chrysler’s Dodge and Plymouth divisions. While that sort of infighting has largely disappeared, it lives on between Hyundai and Kia, where it directly benefits families in the form of the new 2026 Hyundai Palisade.
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Full-size three-row family SUVs have always been strong sellers but rarely are they truly desirable. The 2020 Kia Telluride changed that dynamic with strong styling, great tech, and a killer price. The heavily related Palisade, which debuted the same year, sold well but couldn’t escape the Kia’s shadow. But Hyundai thinks the new second-generation 2026 Palisade has a chance to not just take on the Telluride, but the rest of the segment, too.
What’s New With the 2026 Palisade
We’ve covered the changes to the new 2026 Palisade extensively in our First Look, but the cliff notes are worth reviewing before we dive into how the new Palisade functions as a family vehicle. The design brief for the new Palisade is, in a word, “more.” More refinement. More room. More efficiency. More performance. More technology. More safety. All without giving up what already made the Palisade good. Hyundai aimed to accomplish this by stiffening and slightly stretching the Palisade’s body, which translates to more interior space and—combined with a new suspension design—better ride quality, something that was a sore spot for the first-generation Palisade. (The fact the wheelbase stretch helped the Hyundai design team craft an elegant, aerodynamic new Range Rover-esque body doesn’t hurt, either).
Efficiency and performance are present alongside the sheet metal updates thanks to new powertrains. A 3.5-liter V-6, downsized from a 3.8-liter unit, is standard. Paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, it produces 287 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, and achieves 19/25/21 mpg city/highway/combined with front-wheel drive and 18/24/20 mpg with all-wheel drive. That’s a 5 horsepower, 2 lb-ft, and 1 mpg combined drop versus before, a tradeoff Hyundai says it made in favor of a cleaner-burning engine. Those who live more outdoor-oriented lifestyles will likely appreciate the improvement in off-road capability thanks to the new XRT Pro trim. It gets a one-inch suspension lift (for a total of 8.4 inches), knobby all-terrain tires on 18-inch wheels, a limited-slip rear differential, and some styling upgrades to make it look more rugged.
There’s also a Palisade Hybrid we didn’t get a chance to drive but that is coming to the U.S. by the end of the year. It sports a 2.5-liter turbocharged I-4 gasoline engine, electric motor, and six-speed automatic combination good for 329 hp and 339 lb-ft. Hyundai says in front-drive form it should achieve 33 mpg combined. Expect to lose a mpg or two with all-wheel drive. If you want an electric Palisade, Hyundai says the Ioniq 9 shares the Palisade’s mantle as the brand’s flagship model.
On the tech and safety fronts, Hyundai’s EV know-how trickles into the Palisade in the form of an OTA-capable infotainment system, an onboard dash cam, cashless refueling at select stations with Hyundai Pay, and the company’s latest HDA 2 advanced driver-assist system, which is now capable of automated lane changes. Structurally, Hyundai also points to stiffer, higher strength steel, more airbags (10 total), and seatbelt pretensioners throughout the cabin as features that ought to help the Palisade ace industry crash tests and better protect occupants in a crash.
Check Out These Digs
If there’s a singular word to describe how all the changes feel in the 2026 Hyundai Palisade, its “refined.” Elegant, even, in the top dog Calligraphy and mid-level XRT Pro trims Hyundai provided for its new SUV’s launch. The interior, inspired by midcentury modern furniture, is thoughtfully designed and attractive. It has a curved dash, a visually and texturally stimulating mix of materials, and ergonomic touches such as sofa-like rounded armrests and natural places to rest your hand as you operate the infotainment system.
The front seats are comfortable and supportive, and really there are no cheap seats in the 2026 Palisade—a rarity in the segment. The second-row captain’s chairs (a three-person bench is available, too) feel just as well-bolstered as those up front and have plenty of space for adults. Higher trim models up the luxe factor with heating and cooling, power adjustability, and a relaxation mode with 16-degrees of recline.
Assuming those seats aren’t reclined into the laps of those in the third row, the back row is one of the segment’s more spacious options, largely thanks to a class-exclusive sliding seat. Accessed either with a one-touch button on the second row’s seat backs or up a step in the aisle between the captain’s chairs, the third row can slide back up to 1.5 inches from its default position to give the Palisade a class-leading 33.6 inches of rear legroom. Power operable (and heated!) on the Palisade Limited and Calligraphy, this trick third row combines with a cleverly recessed headliner to make the back row adult-friendly with minimal impact to overall cargo capacity (19.1 cubic feet behind it). Handy switches in the cargo area allow the second and third rows to be folded flat and raised again individually, for up to 46.3 cubic feet behind the second row and 86.7 cubic feet behind the first. Owners without the Limited or Calligraphy models will have to lower and raise the second and third row the old-fashioned way.
Aside from the cargo area, there’s tons of other storage and creature comforts to be found in the Palisade. Up front, the center console features a deep storage bin with a UV sterilizer, a wireless phone charging slot, two large cupholders, and a large open bin perfect for work bags or purses. There’s also a large shelf on the passenger side of the dash, large door pockets with bottle slots, and perhaps our favorite touch, the lip of the doors’ grab handle that doubles as a spot for your phone and wallet. Second row occupants also have door mounted cupholders and bottle slots, while third row passengers get cupholders, cubbies, and a phone slot. Keeping folks charged up are USB-C ports spread throughout all three rows, with the front ones capable of powering a laptop.
On The Road (and Off) in the 2026 Palisade
That level of refinement carries over under the skin, too. It’s clear from behind the wheel that Hyundai’s engineers took our criticisms of the last Palisade—its underpowered engine, clunky transmission, and flinty suspension—to heart.
The new V-6 may be down on power, but it and the updated eight-speed automatic are smooth operators. Power is delivered linearly, building naturally as revs rise toward the 6,400 rpm redline, slipping up into the next gear with the sort of refinement found in sister brand Genesis’ flagship models. The transmission doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to upshift prematurely into its higher ratios, shifts smartly, and is more responsive to the driver’s paddle commands than many other SUVs in this segment. Despite the well-sorted transmission and smooth power delivery, output itself is still just adequate. You’ll want to plan those two-lane road passes well, and folks who live at higher elevations or who regularly travel with a full complement of passengers might want to wait for the more powerful hybrid or look at one of the Palisade’s turbocharged or electric competitors.
The Palisade’s ride quality is also greatly improved compared to the previous version. Thanks to a retuned suspension and the stretched wheelbase, the Palisade glides over poor quality roads without upsetting the cabin or turning the rear seats into shaking messes. The Palisade feels bigger than it is through bends, but light steering effort and feedback from what the front tires are doing is transmitted through the wheel to help ensure driver confidence.
Speaking of, we also had the chance to sample the Palisade XRT Pro off-road. Like others in the segment, the Palisade XRT Pro isn’t designed to tackle much more than a basic forest road or national park trail, but it’s surprisingly capable for the class when pushed near its limits. Though Hyundai’s off-road obstacle course of offset moguls and melon-sized rocks was meant to be run downhill, we ran the Palisade up the 18-degree slope, slowly picking our way through each obstacle without building up any speed or momentum. “Mud” mode damped the throttle response and turned hill-descent control on, making it well-suited for the rock garden as it gave us the fine control we needed to pick our way through the rocks without scraping the decorative skid “plate” on the Palisade XRT Pro’s nose (Hyundai says aluminum underbody skidplates are optional).
Sand mode, which on the rest of the winding off-road trail purports itself as an off-road sport mode of sorts, was well suited for the offset mogul section. Despite stopping in front and in the middle of each mogul with a wheel in the air, Sand mode’s ability to more aggressively send power to the wheels with the most traction via brakes and the rear limited-slip differential helped us make quick work of the obstacles.
While beyond what most owners will put their Palisade XRT Pros through, we’ve done similar stress tests in rival three-row crossovers that’ve resulted in overheated brakes and all-wheel-drive systems, giving us more confidence than we otherwise might have in Hyundai’s first XRT Pro model—a sub brand it hopes will eventually become the “N” off-roading.
How Much Is the New Palisade? Is It Worth It?
For now, one disadvantage the 2026 Hyundai Palisade has compared to its Kia cousin—and the first-generation Palisade— is in its pricing. The new Palisade starts at $40,430, while the loaded Palisade Calligraphy starts at $55,555, $1,735 more than last year for the base model and $3,060 more on the high end. All-wheel drive is a $2,000 option across the board, except on the $50,860 Palisade XRT Pro, where it’s standard.
Still, we can’t help but feel like shoppers are getting more for their money with the new Palisade. Much like the Telluride did when it launched, the new Palisade’s mix of style, features, space, and refinement—its “more”—help it standout in an incredibly competitive segment. We look forward to finding out just how well the 2026 Hyundai Palisade stacks up head-to-head against the other three-row full-size SUVs on the market. Even more exciting, it will be interesting to see how the new Palisade drives the Telluride and the rest of the class forward during the next few years.
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
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