SA Road Tests

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One SUV, two styles: 2022 Hyundai Palisade 2.2 diesel

Full house

Posted: October 31, 2021

The numbers
Price (both versions): R999 900
Engine: 2199 cc, four-cylinder, 16-valve commonrail diesel with E-VGT
Transmission: 8-speed AT with awd
Power: 142 kw at 3800 rpm
Torque: 440 Nm between 1750 and 2750 rpm
0-100: 10.5 seconds
Top speed: 190 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.2 l/100 km
Tank: 71 litres
Luggage: 509-1297-2447 litres
Turning circle: 12.2 metres
Ground clearance: 203 mm
Standard tyre size: 245/50R20
Spare: Full size
Maximum towing mass (unbraked/braked): 750/2200 kg
Warranty: Five years, 150 000 km plus further two years, 50 000 km on powertrain
Roadside: Seven years, 150 000 km
Service plan: Seven years, 105 000 km at 15 000 km intervals


Hyundai Palisade’s two-model range offers interesting choices. In one, the Don and Doña are driven in executive comfort, cossetted in luxurious individual Captains’ chairs. Each is adjustable for slide and recline, is fitted with armrests and can be warmed and ventilated as desired. Cargo space for work or travel needs is a generous 1297 litres.

And when the children are home from school, parents simply deploy a three-seat third row to accommodate them. That reduces luggage room to “only” 509 litres but few cars offer even that much.

A second choice, at the same price, is a more practical eight-seater with a second, three-seat row replacing the individual Captains’ chairs. Apart from a few minor differences in seating features, the cars are identical. Travel Advisory: Third-row accommodation is best reserved for children and little people – leg room varies from stretch-out to stingy depending on adjustment of the second row. And head space is marginal for tall people who might also find entry and exit challenging. This car should not be seen as a recommended replacement for the historic H1.

What the extreme back row does have going for it, includes a full suite of belts and head restraints, reclining backrests, cup holders for four, two powered USBs and an ISOFix mounting with top tether on the left seat.

Good-to-haves include electrical adjusters for both front chairs, although the co-pilot does forfeit a couple of features; LED head-, DRL- and rear lights; auto-on headlamps with escort function; pushbutton starting; automatic locking on the move; blind spot monitoring; rear cross-traffic alert with safe exit assist; automatic climate control with supplementary vents in the back; rear view camera; park assist; powered tailgate; USBs and power sockets all over the place, and wireless phone charging. Then there’s all the usual safety, entertainment and communications kit – little to no need for extras and options, then.

There is more of course. A two-section rotating selector provides access to Drive modes – Smart, Sport, Eco and Comfort – and Terrain control – Snow, Mud and Sand. There is no diff lock or low range and ground clearance is limited, so heavy duty off-road work is not an option.

The Sport mode was a bit of a let-down because it does not allow one to hold manually selected gears beyond the time the car’s computer decides it wants to. A further small irritation was the heavy doors. Unless you have them opened fully to the next detent, they could swing back and hurt you.

What we did appreciate was the big, clear analogue speedometer and rev. counter with proper needles. Truly civilised. Also potentially useful is the conversation mirror that allows the driver to make eye contact with passengers in Rows Two and Three. This has been done before in other cars but is still neat. We call it the kid watcher, as in; “Tommy, stop pulling your sister’s hair!”

Seven seats or eight, Hyundai Palisade is big, comfortable, performs very well for what it is, and comes as close to being a “full house” package as one can get these days.

Test unit from Hyundai SA press fleet



What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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