Holiday Driving in a Hyundai Palisade

To us, the Holidays are a time to spend with friends and family, and we’re often on the road traveling for gatherings and parties. This Holiday season we had family coming to visit from out-of-town, so to transport us everywhere we needed to be in style, we borrowed a Hyundai Palisade for a week full of holiday travel. It was a brilliant idea, and we don’t know how we’ll ever do the holidays again without Hyundai’s new flagship premium three-row Palisade SUV as our sleigh.

The Hyundai Palisade was perfectly suited to such a task for obvious reasons. Holiday driving often involves long road trips wearing heavy coats and winter boots. In that scenario, space and comfort are key to keeping everyone in the holiday spirit. While the Hyundai Palisade can easily accommodate 6 adults, for most of the week there were four of us in the vehicle, which made it even more comfortable. We folded down the third row to allow plenty of room for packages and luggage, while the second row captain’s chairs allowed our passengers to stretch out and enjoy the ride.

Above you can see it loaded on our way to a family weekend in Gettysburg, PA. The Palisade also features a bunch of creature comforts that we took full advantage of during our week of holiday driving. We’re talking about climate zones, heated seats, heated steering wheel, satellite radio, navigation, automatic lift gate, and plenty of power for our phones and tablets. 

While we enjoyed driving with the Palisade’s Atkinson-cycle 3.8-liter V6, dual CVVT, direct-injected engine, sadly we didn’t run into any winter weather. We were excited to test out the HTRAC All-Wheel Drive (AWD) system on the Palisade, which comes equipped with a Snow Mode for slippery roads. Snow Mode adjusts front and rear torque distribution, left and right wheel slip control, engine torque and shift patterns according to available traction levels. 

Everyone wants to keep their family safe year round, but especially during the holidays. So we took comfort in knowing that the Palisade offers a number of advanced safety technologies standard, including Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection, Blind Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Following Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist, Safe Exit Assist, High Beam Assist, Driver Attention Warning and Smart Cruise Control with Stop and Go.

The 2020 Hyundai Palisade has everything you need for transporting your family in style, comfort, and safety. While we found it to be perfect for road trips during the winter holidays, we think your family will enjoy this vehicle year round. It starts well-equipped at $31,550, and maxes out at $46,400 for the fully loaded AWD Limited trim.