Text by Tom Appel
2025 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy AWD
Specs
Class: Midsize Crossover
Country of Manufacture: South Korea
Color: Hyper White
Seating Capacity: 6
Miles driven: 188
Real-world fuel economy: 19.9 mpg
| CG Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Room and Comfort | A |
| Power and Performance | B |
| Fit and Finish | A |
| Fuel Economy | B- |
| Value | A- |
| Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus other vehicles in the same class. Value grade is for specific trim level evaluated, and may not reflect Consumer Guide's impressions of the entire model lineup. | |
| Big & Tall Comfort | |
| Big Guy | A |
| Tall Guy | A |
| Big & Tall comfort ratings are for front seats only. "Big" rating based on male tester weighing approximately 350 pounds, "Tall" rating based on 6'6"-tall male tester. | |
| Drivetrain | |
| Engine Specs | 291-horsepower 3.8-liter |
| Engine Type | V6 |
| Transmission | 8-speed automatic |
| Drive Wheels | AWD |
Driving mix: 65% city, 35% highway
EPA-estimated fuel economy: 19/24/21 (city, highway, combined)
Fuel type: Regular gas
Base price: $52,600 (not including $1415 destination charge)
Options on test vehicle: Special paint ($470), floor mats ($215)
Price as tested: $54,700
Pros and Cons
The great: Luxurious for the price, refined demeanor
The good: Ample passenger and cargo space, plenty of power
The not so good: Fuel economy trails competition
Review
Take a deep breath, and enjoy the pause. Turns out there’s not much new for 2025, at least as far as the popular Hyundai Palisade is concerned. The Korean maker’s largest crossover returns for ’25 featuring a few tweaks, and a new ‘tweener” midline trim level aimed at the heart of the midsize crossover market.
The big Palisade news comes for 2026. We’ll get to that in a moment…
For 2024, the midsize crossover race finished in this order:
Jeep Grand Cherokee (216,000 units)
Ford Expedition (194,000)
Honda Pilot (141,000)
Hyundai Santa Fe (119,000)
Kia Telluride (115,000)
Hyundai Palisade (110,000)
If you combine Toyota Highlander (89,685) and Grand Highlander sales, the net number would place those vehicles second on this list (161,000).
If you remove the Grand Cherokee from this list—given that it is priced as a premium vehicle—you end up with a tightly grouped pack of excellent vehicles, all of which merit shopper consideration. And even though the Palisade is due for update in the near future, we think the current-generation crossover is well worth a look.
For 2025, the Palisade is offered in seven trim levels, they are: base SE ($38,215), value-oriented SEL ($40,965), off-road oriented XRT ($44,065), upscale Limited ($49,615), premium Calligraphy ($52,015), and range-topping Calligraphy Night Edition ($55,515).
Added this year is the SEL Premium ($45,565), which slots nicely between the XRT and Limited, and will likely prove to be a popular Palisade variant.
All Palisades come with the same 291-horsepower 3.8-liter V8 mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission. All trim levels come with front-wheel drive, and are available with AWD, save for the Night Edition on which AWD is standard.
Note: Though uniquely styled, tuned, and priced, the Kia Telluride shares the Palisade’s basic architecture and drivetrain. You can read our most-recent review of the Telluride here.
Consumer Guide recently spent a week behind the wheel of an AWD 2025 Palisade in Hyper White. With destination charge, our test truck came to $54,700.
Since the Palisade came onto the scene back in 2020 with its luxury-level cabin appointments, the makers of competitive midsize crossovers have stepped up their interior design efforts. Check out the inside of the 2025 Ford Explorer ST we just reviewed.
And while the Palisade cabin is no longer startlingly plush, it is still extraordinarily plush, and would not disappoint in a vehicle listing $30,000 higher. We found the contrasting black upholstery stitching especially classy.
In now-typical Korean fashion, the controls work well and fall readily to hand. Every Palisade comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen—because the exact size apparently matters—that is nicely placed on the dash. Touchscreen icons are easy to identify at a glance, and the system responds immediately to touch inputs. Climate and drive-mode functions are still manipulated via physical switchgear located just below the screen. All told, we found the general control layout simple and easy to use.
The cabin itself is bright, airy, and roomy, and the sense of space is enhanced somewhat by our test-car’s Light Beige trim scheme. This large editor found entering and exiting the Palisade easy enough, thanks in part to large door openings. There’s also plenty of adult space in the first two seating rows.
Third-row accommodations approach the level of adult friendly, though the way-back seats are best left to the most-nimble of your traveling party.
Underway the Palisade shines dynamically, and in terms of refinement. The big V6 serves up lots of easy torque, making for relaxed stop and go driving. There’s also plenty of power for passing and merging. The engine also sounds refined in operation, and mutes almost completely in highway driving. The Palisade powertrain isn’t especially thrifty, though our observed 20 mpg is in keeping with the crossover’s EPA estimates.
Ride quality is excellent, and in keeping with the Calligraphy’s luxury pretense, our test truck proved both exceptionally quiet and composed on longer highway jaunts. It is perhaps the Palisade’s freeway demeanor that best defines it as an upscale crossover.
We don’t generally comment on build quality, as so few test vehicles have disappointed us in recent memory. However, we need to point out how even and lustrous our test car’s paint was. While we suffer from white-car fatigue, the Palisade’s cooly iridescent paint presented well.
As we noted above, the Palisade will be redesigned for the 2026 model year, and is expected to grow slightly in most dimensions. We also expect the smooth V6 to be replaced by a standard turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. Also offered will be hybrid variant featuring a drivetrain similar to the hybrid setup found in the current Kia Carnival. Expect significant styling updates both inside and outside of the vehicle, as well.
We’re big fans of the Palisade, and it’s Kia cousin the Telluride. The Palisade—in upper trim levels—serves up a genuinely premium experience for what remain midsize prices. Note that, as the Hyundai Santa Fe saw significant price increases when recently redesigned, we expect the new Palisade to be likewise “value adjusted.” If you’re shopping now, we suggest adding the 2025 Palisade to your test-drive short list. It’s unlikely the Palisade will ever this strong of a value again.
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2025 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy Pictures
Click below for enlarged images
