When Hyundai releases the Palisade – its boldly styled 7-/8-seater flagship – in South Africa during the 2nd half of 2021, the Korean brand will take on luxury marques’ Premium SUVs with a product that not only looks the part, but offers superior practicality as a large family vehicle. We recently drove it in Sydney.

There might be a long-haul flight and several time zones between Australia and South Africa, but the countries have quite a bit in common. Here are the most obvious things: a predilection for socialising around a fire with a tinned beverage in hand (in anticipation of charring meat over coals), an obsession with watching professional athletes (that play for teams named after wild animals) run after leather balls, using colourful language laced with novel expletives, ubiquitous bureaucracy, dumbfounding politics, as well, of course, as an unflinching devotion to all things SUV, which starts with double-cabs.

If you want a7- or 8-seater you have to either buy a Premium SUV or a high-spec people-mover (bus), right? Not anymore.

Unsurprisingly then, the2outdoorsy and generally convivial nations have similar kinds of vehicle markets, but the biggest difference (as far as off-roaders are concerned) is that Down Under, parking lots aren’t filled with Toyota Fortuners. Why? Because there’s another large off-road-inspired family vehicle that is well entrenched here: the full-sized crossover, such as the Toyota Kluger and Mazda CX-9.

Comparable vehicles, such as the Nissan Murano or Subaru Tribeca have never, um, gained traction in South Africa because they weren’t offered by premium brands (which would have made their lofty sticker prices more palatable) and, to be fair, it’s difficult to top the Fortuner’s sheer value for money proposition as an off-road-capable 7-seater.

The Palisade is not as wide nor tall as it might appear in images, but it is just under 5 metres long.

What kind of vehicle is the Hyundai Palisade?

The Palisade, however, which is based on the 2020 World Car of the Year-winning Kia Telluride, is in a different league – an unashamedly imposing big rig that was originally intended primarily for North America, but is now being produced for right-hand-drive markets at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant in South Korea. No, it’s not a body-on-chassis off-roader, but a spacious, comfort-oriented and liberally specified unibody vehicle – that fact will detract virtually nothing from the newcomer’s considerable showroom appeal.

The Palisade’s bold, squared-off styling, especially from the front, where the oversized, thick-rimmed grille and long, boomerang-shaped LED lighting elements dominate, make the vehicle look bigger than it is. It is about 6 cm longer, but slightly narrower, than a BMW X5, while its roofline is about 8 cm lower than that of the flagship Fortuner.

Although the Palisade's trump card is its spacious, feature-packedinterior, itscockpit is tastefully and luxuriously appointed.

The newcomer feels cavernous inside, however. Hyundai offers the model in either 8-seateror 7-seater configuration and, in the case of the latter, the 2nd row comprises a pair of captain’s chairs that are heated and ventilated. With a claimed 1 120/1 077/798 mm of legroom for the front-, 2nd- and 3rd rows, the Palisade accommodates its occupants in consummate comfort, the last row is even tolerable for a pair of adults on short trips.

Apart from a boarding step and 220 mm of foot clearance to aid entry/egress to the 3rd row, walk-in switches are located on the base of the middle row to activate a slide- and forward-tilt function so that aft passengers can get in. Of course, on the 7-seater version, which is apparently most likely to be offered in Mzansi, the little ones need only file through between the captain’s chairs (the middle seat is removed in the 2nd row) to get to their seats.

Although it remains to be seen whether the 8-seater will be offered in SA, this cutaway shows how spacious the Palisade is.

The Palisade’s luggage capacity with all 3 rows in place is only 311 litres, but when the rear seats, which can recline by 10 degrees and split 60:40, are stowed that number goes up to a generous 704 litres. The 2nd-row seatbacks can be folded flat by pressing release buttons in the load bay to create an utterly expansive loading area. What’s more, on top-spec derivatives, the tailgate is both electrically powered and remote operated.

What’s most impressive about the study in practicality that is the Palisade’s interior is that Hyundai nonetheless got the premium cabin execution spot on. Swathes of plush off-white leather (okay, not perfectly practical), wood-look inserts and satin chrome trim abound, the facia features a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility) and the floating centre console is adorned with a climate control panel, a shift-by-wire transmission selector and a rotary drive-mode controller.

By fitting an electronic push-button transmission selector, Hyundai has freed up a lot of space in the Palisade's centre console.

Although South African spec is yet to be finalised, luxury accoutrements can include, inter alia, electrically-adjustable front seats (12-way and with memory function for the driver) that are both heated and ventilated, a head-up display, surround-view cameras, a heated steering wheel, suede headliner, 12-speaker Infinity premium audio system, a dual-panel sunroof (with tilt function for the front panel, combined with arear sunblind), tri-zone climate control and heated 2nd row (and cooled, in the 7-seater’s case) seats.

Loads of driver assistance tech

And, as befitting the flagship SUV-cum-people-mover in Hyundai’s line-up, the driving technologies make a notable difference to the way the newcomer feels to pilot. From the obligatory perched driving position, the Palisade is palpably easy to commandeer – considering its bulky dimensions. If you activate the Smart Cruise Control (adaptive, with stop & go) in conjunction with lane-keeping- and lane following assist, the Hyundai will vary its pace to match traffic conditions and make small steering inputs automatically.

If you're worried about scratching the 20-inch alloys, a surround-view camera system augments the reverse-view function.

When you indicate, before changing lanes (for example) the entire 7-inch supervision cluster (in the otherwise analogue) instrument binnacle displays a wide blind-spot view, although, having said that, the lane departure and blind-spot collision avoidance assist warning beeps can be somewhat vociferous in cut-and-thrust peak-hour Sydney traffic.

On-road refinement, meanwhile, is very impressive, which suggests extensive sound insulation and acoustic tuning and the ride quality is luxuriously pliant (it is, perhaps, only limited by the fitment of 20-inch wheels shod with 245/50 tyres on the top-spec version). The steering is responsive and accurate given the Palisade’s cruiser-like character, but largely bereft of feel. Lateral body movement under hard cornering is well suppressed.

If the Palisade is offered in South Africa exclusively in turbodiesel guise, it's very likely tocome standard with AWD.

In Australia, the Palisade is offered with a choice of a 217 kW/355 Nm 3.8-litre V6 GDi petrol engine with front-wheel drive, or a 147 kW/440 Nm 2.2-litre 4-cylinder CRDi turbodiesel motor, both in combination with an 8-speed automatic transmission.

Fortunately for Mzansi, the eminently flexible (but commendably refined and relatively fuel-efficient) turbodiesel version is more likely to be offered in our market, which means the Palisade will also feature part-time all-wheel-drive. That means over and above Comfort, Eco, Sport and Smart drive modes, the AWD Hyundai will feature a Multi-Terrain Mode system that incorporates Snow, Sand and Mud traction control settings.

For its size and heft, the Palisade feels far from ponderous to drive; its on-road refinement is admirable.

Overall, it’s the family-friendly cabin that stands out most about this model, which is ultimately a people-mover disguised as an SUV.As standard, there are 2 roof-mounted vents for the 2nd and 3rd occupants andup to 16 cup- or bottle holders positioned around the cabin. While you can top up a smartphone by using the wireless charging pad in the centre console, there no fewer than 7 USB ports (two per row and one for multimedia input) and, should you require even greater charging capability, a quartet of 12V electric outlets from front to rear.

Family-friendly features SUVs don't usually have

A number of additional features, such as Driver Talk, Quiet Mode, Rear Occupant Alert and Safe Exit Assist help the driver communicate with, accommodate and safeguard rear occupants while they’re sitting in, or departing, the Palisade.

A Driver Talk feature uses a high-defmicrophone and the audio system to allow the driver to speak to 2nd- and 3rd-row occupants (through the speakers mounted in the C-pillars) without raising their voice.

The advantage of the 7-seater configuration is the fitment of a pair of captain's chairs and easier access to the 3rd row.

Quiet Mode, in turn, mutes the speakers in the rearand sets the front speakers’ volume low to allow rear occupants a quieter environment to talk to oneanother– or to get some sleep on long-haul journeys.

Rear Occupant Alert utilises an ultrasonic sensor in the headlining to detect movement in the cabin to prevent the unintentional leaving behind or locking-in of children or pets in Palisade.

And, to reduce the likelihood of occupants exiting Palisade when the surroundings make it unsafe to do so, Safe Exit Assist (SEA) works in conjunction with the radar sensors on either side of the rear bumper to detect vehicles approaching from the rear.

The 3rd is not an afterthought in the Palisade, it offers fair legroom, USB outlets as well as a quartet of bottle holders.

If a door is opened while an approaching vehicle is detected, the SEA system will issue an audible alert and display a message in the instrument cluster to warn the exiting occupant(s) to “watch for traffic”.

Apart from dual front and side airbags, curtain airbags extend across all three rows. Eight-seat derivatives feature 5 top-tether child-seat anchors (4 tether points in 7-seaters), as well as a pair of ISOfix mounting points in the 2nd row, with an additional mounting pointin the 3rd row. What remains on the Palisade's list of active and passive safety features is comprehensive.

Summary

So, could the Palisade succeed in the sunny Republic, where its smaller Santa Fe sibling has struggled? Hyundai SAdoes not expect to sell many units of the newcomer, but this parking-bay- and rear-view-mirror-filling Hyundai offers rather a lot of what really matters to aspirational buyers; it’s one of the most purposeful looking, tastefully appointed and feature-rich large family vehicles money can buy.

The bold front-end styling of the Palisade is likely to fill the rear-view mirrors of vehicles ahead of it with aplomb.

Apart from the buying public's badge snobbery/brand allegiances, what obstacles will the Palisade need to overcome? For what it’s worth, although the all-wheel-driven 2.2-litre turbodiesel derivative has approach-, departure- and break-over angles of 18.5-, 21.2- and 16.3 degrees, its 203-mm ride height and shiny 20-inch wheels(on the top-spec versions) will limit the extent of its off-road capabilities.

And lastly, the Palisade does have a Trailer Stability Assist system and Trailer connecting guidelines on the rear-camera image (to assist the driver with trailer hitching), but its braked-trailer tow rating (2200 kg) is lower than most of its rivals. That figure is based on the trailer-obsessed Australian market's standards of measurement for tow ratings, so let's rather wait for confirmation onthe SA specification.

Of course, what the Palisadewill cost remains to be seen, but suffice to say Hyundai might snaffle a few of the sales that the market’s luxury marques were hoping to get from their premium SUV offerings.

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