The isn’t the bargain-basement large-medium three-row SUV I was expecting. Well, it is an eight-seat sport utility and it’s definitely not small. But it’s also really nice. The top-spec Limited version, actually, is almost shockingly luxurious. Hyundai is not messing around here.

(: Hyundai flew me to Spokane, Wash. then drove me to Coeur d’Alene lake in Idaho, which, wow, what a place. It’s like Lake Tahoe but with more fancy coffee shops. I’m pretty sure a couple nights in my hotel room cost more than some of my cars. Food and drinks were also provided. Also, I drove the 2020 Palisade.)

We, as in The People, as in the American car-buying public, demand vehicles with lots of seats and cup holders. Also, a healthy suite of driver-assistance tech to make us feel fancy and just enough ground clearance to make us feel tough. It’s why and why Hyundai has put this thing on sale.

The Palisade shares a platform with the Kia Telluride, but representatives from the company (Hyundai) insist the vehicles were independently developed despite sharing some technology. Kia is a subsidiary of Hyundai, but the companies don’t collaborate on product planning according to Hyundai’s people. I suspect the relationship between the two entities is complex, but that might be a blog for another day.

That car-buying public I just mentioned won’t care about who’s counting the beans to bring this car to life, and practically speaking, it doesn’t really matter anyway. So the Palisade is a comfortable family hauler designed to rival the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Ford Explorer, and yes, the Kia Telluride.

Every version of the Hyundai Palisade benefits from good proportions, well-utilized interior space, comfortable seats and a highly-accessible third row.

“The idea was to make the way-back seats easy enough to get in and out of that a kid could do it by themselves,” one of the many Hyundai employees I spoke to told me at the car’s launch party. That seems like a straightforward idea, but Hyundai’s execution is actually pretty slick.

2020 Hyundai Palisade Rear Exit

The second-row seats have big, kid-friendly buttons on the outside shoulder–tap one and the seat swiftly leans and slides forward. I will say it seemed to work a lot better when you could push it with your other hand, so this video is a bit of an undersell, but you get the idea.

Plus, there are grab handles integrated into the interior plastics to give third-row exits some semblance of grace. But my favorite tiny feature is the seat belt holster. Both sides of the car have a little tab to accept the second row seat belt, so you can tuck it out of the way before you climb in or out of the Palisade’s third row.

Nobody asked the Hyundai Palisade to be a driving enthusiast’s car, but in the off chance you are wondering, the Hyundai Palisade is not a driving enthusiast’s car.

Whatever though, I wouldn’t consider that a glaring weakness when it comes to family hauling. The numbness between the road and the steering wheel isn’t egregiously disconcerting. It doesn’t feel unstable, or too-tall. And the vehicle never felt out-of-control despite the fact that there’s not really much sensation of feedback from the road.

What does put a dent in the Palisade’s aura of opulence is pretty apparent road noise, especially in the trims below the top Limited. At highway cruising speed, the wind is kind of oddly loud in the cabin.

I also would’ve liked to have seen a slightly higher fuel economy rating; the Palisade’s rivals have a bit of an edge there.

Otherwise, on a sunny afternoon drive over roads so smooth they could have made my ’75 Scout seems supple, there wasn’t a lot to dislike about this comfortable people-mover.

The auto industry has been talking about the rise of quality Korean cars for years now, but even I was surprised here. Hyundai didn’t have to make this anything more than a big box with three rows. Again, Dodge is still selling the Journey just fine.

What got me was that among the already rising tide of Korean car quality, the Palisade actually does feel like another leveling-up of refinement and luxury. I seriously can’t get over how high-class the soft headliner is in the Palisade Limited, and the interior design in general really does have a distinctly lux-leaning ambiance that sets it apart from other popular vehicles in the segment.

In other words, the Palisade is a super comfortable family car with more room than most people probably need. So, it’s good. As long as your kids aren’t too scared of seeing the Predator pull up when it’s time to get them from school.

2020 Palisade Limited

2020 Palisade Limited

+

Lovely to ride in

-

A little intense to look at, and a bit thirsty

TL;DR

A worthy flagship; a great mix of nice materials and convenient features

Power

291 HP • 262 LB-FT

Weight

4,387 LBS

Price

$46,400 List