Hyundai Palisade vs Lexus NX

What's the difference?

The Palisade Calligraphy is a nice SUV to drive on road. It’s composed and refined, and as an eight-seater, it makes a sensible daily driver, especially for those of us with more than a couple of children.

My teenagers loved this Palisade because there were charge points for everyone – namely them – and that second row, according to them, is very comfortable.

It has a few niggles, but, while it’s not perfect, the Palisade Calligraphy does so many things so well that you are willing to forgive it its few quirks and AWD gives it a handy advantage over any of its 2WD rivals. 

The Lexus NX450h+ F Sport is a gorgeous mid-size SUV that combines great specs and a fairly efficient plug-in hybrid powertrain. It’s a comfortable and easy ride which should appeal to a wide range of driving styles. It also looks good parked at the kerbside of a city street and with it ticking most of the boxes, it may become your new best friend.

This is a nice looking SUV in a generic, non-offensive way.

The Calligraphy is in the top ranks of the Palisade range, so, in terms of design you'd expect it to be a bit easy on the eye and it is, especially the exterior, from the big grille all the way back.

Our test vehicle’s colour looks a lot like black to me. Hyundai calls it 'Robust Emerald' and I started to not strongly dislike it after a few days.

The interior has a real premium look and feel to it with Nappa leather accents and expanses of soft-touch surfaces adding to that prevailing overall impression.

This is a cleanly designed space – it's really quite easy on the eyes – and it's comfortable to be in. Bonus: the build quality is great, it all feels so well put together. 

This Palisade is also a prime example of a car maker effectively blending high-tech displays and controls into a cabin in a low-key way – nothing really seems out of place here and everything is easy to locate and operate.

The NX simple looks like a scaled-down version of its larger RX cousin, so if you like that you’ll like what the NX.

It looks sweeter, though, with its smaller proportions being only 4660mm long and 1670mm high but there’s enough sharp pleating in the panelling and rear LED lights to give it a sporty edge. It’s a design that should appeal to a wide range of people.

The interior helps the NX compete against some of its flashier rivals, but the BMW X3's interior beats it hands down with the wow factor. Still, the dual-toned leather upholstery and fabrics of our test model scream understated luxury.

The perforated leather of the seats is supple underhand, but even the robust synthetic leather on the backs of the seats and some door panelling feels like the real stuff most of the time.

The dashboard components – like the air vents, displays and accents – are well integrated and seem well-built. The cockpit is intimate and plush overall, and it always reminds you that you're in the cabin of a luxury vehicle.

Once you've spent any time in the Palisade Calligraphy cabin, you get to realise just how comfortable it is. 

The driver and front-passenger seats are very comfortable and very supportive, and these are both power adjustable. The driver’s seat is 12-way power-adjustable so you can precisely dial in your position.

There are so many handy features to the interior that if you can find something that's missing, I want to hear about it. 

There are plenty of storage spaces and cupholders* and lots of charge points, including a USBs up the front and two USB-Cs for each row’s passengers.

* Hyundai reckons there are 17 cupholders throughout the Palisade interior but I didn’t count them so we’re taking the company's word for it.

The second row is quite spacious and on the right side of comfortable and the passengers have access to sufficient controls including climate control. 

The outboard seats are heated and there are controls for the fan on the back of the centre console. There are USB-C points on the inside edges of the front seats for the second-row passengers, a couple of cupholders either side as well as sun shades on each second-row window.

That’s helpful if you're trying to get your little ones to sleep, or at least prevent the sun from blasting them in the eyes. 

In terms of child restraint points in the second row, you have three top tether points and two ISOFIX anchors and in the third row you have two top tethers and one ISOFIX location. 

The third row is the domain of children, or two adults if you don't like them. There's not a lot of room. I racked the second row forward just a bit to give me some much-needed knee room.

There are a couple of cupholders either side in the third row and passengers there do have access to air vents. This is sufficiently comfortable for children, but it's a no-go zone for adults. 

With all three rows in use, there is a claimed 311 litres of cargo space in the boot area, which doesn’t mean a lot until you can see what fits in there, for better or worse.

Now, normally in a Family review, you might expect to see groceries and maybe a pram in the rear cargo area as an illustrative measure of what you can or cannot fit in there. Well, that’s not my style.

This is an AWD vehicle, and I drive on dirt roads as part of any AWD test, so I wanted some items from my vehicle-recovery kit onboard, including a set of four MaxTrax (vehicle-recovery boards, if you don’t know already), an air compressor (to re-inflate a punctured or intentionally deflated tyre), a first-aid kit, and a tyre-puncture repair kit.

All of these things fit easily into the rear cargo area with the third row up and theoretically in use.

That listed cargo space increases to 704 litres with the third row stowed away.

Then, with the second and third rows down you’re at 2447 litres.

Kerb weight is 2070kg and GVM is 2755kg, so you have a little bit of wiggle room in terms of how much you can pack onboard. A full-size spare sits under the body at the rear. 

The cabin of the NX is spacious where it needs to be for four adults to be comfortable on a longer journey, and features enough equipment to satisfy most.

Access is best at the front because of the wider door apertures and while still easy enough to get in and out of from the back, the rear wheel arch cuts into the aperture a bit.

The front seats are very comfortable with thick padding, tall side bolsters that lock you into place in a turn as well as heating and cooling functions.

The back seats are almost as comfortable as the front! However, the outboard seats offer the best under-thigh support. It is a shame that they miss out on heat functions for its grade level, though.

Storage is fairly good for the class, with lots of small item cubbies up front like a sunglasses holder, a mini drawer next to the drivers' knee and a dedicated phone holder and two cupholders. The large glove box (that can hold more than just a manual) and mid-size middle console shoulder most of the storage burden, though.

In the back you get a couple of map pockets, small storage bins and two cupholders. which is most than enough for this size of SUV.

The boot offers an impressive 520L of capacity and a level loading space makes it an easy car to slide larger gear in and out of. The little storage compartment under the floor is handy for charging cables and the hands-free powered tailgate is always handy to have.

The technology is a nice mix of easy-to-use and high-end with a responsive touchscreen on the 14-inch multimedia display. The system has built-in sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The CarPlay was simple to set up and has maintained a steady connection with my iPhone this week.

Charging options are decent with two USB-C ports and a 12-volt socket per row, as well as a wireless charging pad up front.

With a price hike of almost $6K, our flagship NX sits at $95,900 before on-road costs, but it's still slightly more affordable than its top-grade plug-in hybrid rivals.

The Volvo XC60 Ultra is priced from $101,390 and the outgoing BMW X3 xDrive30e sits at $102,500.

In the flagship variant, the standard features list is well-rounded to include both practical and luxury equipment. There are electric front seats with heating and cooling, an F Sport steering wheel with heating and touch controls, a sunroof, rear privacy glass, and a power-adjustable steering column.

Other items include a powered tailgate with a kick-to-open function, dual-zone climate control with a humidity sensor, parking assist, keyless entry/start, a digital key, Lexus Connected services app, a digital rearview mirror and 20-inch alloy wheels.

The technology looks gorgeous with the 14-inch touchscreen multimedia display taking centre stage with built-in satellite navigation, Bluetooth and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

You also get a 10-speaker Lexus premium sound system, which has AM/FM radio, MP3 and WMA (Windows Media Audio) compatibility. There are four USB-C ports (2/2), a 12-volt socket and a wireless charging pad.

So while our test model misses out on some of the items you might expect to see for a top-model grade – like three-zone climate control and heated rear outboard seats – it still feels well-specified.

Our test vehicle has a 2.2-litre four-cylinder, common-rail, turbo-diesel engine sending 147kW (at 3800rpm) and 440Nm (at 1750-2750rpm) to all four wheel via an eight-speed automatic transmission. 

This Palisade has an AWD system called 'HTrac' (Hyundai Traction) and it operates on a similar principle to most other AWD systems in city-going SUVs, and that is it directs power to the appropriate wheels to optimise traction. 

This vehicle also has multiple drive modes – 'Comfort', 'Sport', 'Eco' and 'Smart' – for on road and 'Sand', 'Mud' and 'Snow' for when you go off-road.

These off-road drive modes are absolutely no substitute for 4WD, but they are fine for when conditions get slippery, for example, if there’s a little bit of rain on the bitumen or the dirt track becomes slightly muddy.

The NX450h+ F Sport is the first attempt at a plug-in hybrid powertrain for Lexus. It pairs a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors, one located at each end of the car for all-wheel drive. Together they produce up to 227kW of power, but Lexus doesn’t quote the combined torque figure (cheeky).

The flagship model can do a 0-100km/h sprint in 6.3 seconds and features a smooth continuously variable transmission.

Overall, it moves quickly and the shift between the electric and engine components is barely noticeable.

Fuel consumption is listed as 7.3L/100km on a combined cycle. On this test, I recorded 9.0L/100km. 

The Palisade has a 71-litre fuel tank. So, going by that on-test figure, you could expect a driving range of almost 800km from a full tank.

But remember you’ll be carrying more people and gear onboard so fuel economy will be affected accordingly.

The flagship NX has a smallish 18.1kWh lithium-ion battery and a Type 2 charging port but no CCS enhancement, which means you can’t hook it up to a fast DC charger.

On a standard AC 240-volt domestic plug port, you can charge this from 0-100% in around 7hrs 30mins. You get a great electric-only NEDC-rated driving range of up to 87km and that means you really only have to charge it every other day, which I appreciated. 

The official combined fuel cycle usage is 1.3L/100km, but you won’t really see that in the real world. After doing some longer trips mixed in with city slicking, my average real-world usage popped out at 6.5L/100km, and I averaged 20.2kWh/100km when in pure EV mode. They’re not the best hybrid figures I’ve seen for the class, but they're not too bad either.

This is an easy driving wagon. It's nice and comfortable, it's refined, it's always composed and it's always controlled and it's just an all around nice drive from the engine and the auto, which are a really good pairing. 

As mentioned earlier, kerb weight is listed as 2070kg and this Palisade has an 11.8m turning circle, so it’s not an insubstantial vehicle to steer around.

It’s not very dynamic, not very lively, but it has a nice consistent feel to it all – and being composed and consistent is important with something that's intended as a people mover, as a family vehicle because that's what you want. 

Ride and handling are well sorted out and, though there’s a touch of firmness to the suspension, ride quality is smooth in general terms. 

There are the paddle shifters on the steering wheel if you want a little bit more input into shifting up and down in the automatic transmission, but it’s rather clever so you can just let it do its job as it does that nicely. 

There are four on-road drive modes – Comfort, Eco, Sport and Smart. Smart tweaks vehicle characteristics such as engine output, transmission settings and braking to suit your driving style, and depending on which of the other modes you select, it will adjust those characteristics and/or more to suit the terrain or the conditions you’re driving in. 

And while this Palisade is impressive in terms of performance and driving characteristics, there are a few niggles. 

Acceleration is a bit laggy and it takes a heavy right boot to get the Palisade moving at pace.

Some of the driver-assist tech is often abrupt and intrusive. The traffic-sign recognition (or speed limit assist) is clunky. It detects and reacts to signs that don't apply at that time of day, say school zone signs, or it picks up on signs that don't apply to that section of road.

So, it's forever chopping and changing between speeds you should be at and speeds you shouldn't. You can adjust those settings or switch them off in the Hyundai app via the touchscreen multimedia system, but those settings return as defaults when you next start the vehicle. 

Now for some dirty talk. The Palisade Calligraphy is an all-wheel drive SUV wagon that does sufficiently well on terrain that would be moderately challenging for a 2WD vehicle. 

Our light-duty test track is sandy and there are some very shallow wheel ruts – nothing serious – and this Palisade handled all of the minor challenges well.

Ride quality over some of the lumpier sections was good. It's a bit on the firm side as you'd expect because this is a SUV designed for the suburbs not the Simpson, but it is perfectly reasonable on a very easy dirt track in dry conditions. 

And that’s the good thing about an AWD over a 2WD vehicle; you have that extra degree of traction, especially if you get into a traction-compromised situation such as a slippery wet bitumen road or a slightly muddy, but otherwise well-maintained, gravel route. 

This Palisade has three terrain driving modes – Sand, Mud, and Snow – which each adjust throttle response, engine output, and the automatic transmission, among other things, to ensure you keep moving safely with controlled momentum. 

If you’re planning to use your daily driver / family mover as a towing platform it’s handy to note that the Pailsade’s towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and 2200kg (braked).

This NX feels like it has lots of power in reserve when you put your foot down and never struggles going up big hills. When it’s in pure EV mode, it’s very quiet but there’s no big fanfare when this kicks over to the traditional engine. You barely notice it until you’re on the open road travelling at higher speeds, and that’s when the engine starts to sound more growly like its non-hybrid siblings.

The steering is forgiving without feeling too light and around town, the NX is nimble and sure of itself. The suspension is on the firmer side, so you’ll hear and feel the bigger bumps, but it never feels rough.

Visibility is decent with the largish windows, and the pillars that aren’t too wide from my driving position. I do like having the digital rearview mirror, though, because when you have a big car seat or tall adult in the back seat, the vision back there is hindered.

It’s pretty hard to find a modern car that’s terrible to park, especially in the mid-size SUV segment, and the NX is no different. Even in a small car space, you still have good clearance around you, which hopefully translates to less dings from neighbouring cars!

The 360-degree view camera system is top notch with its quality, and I like that the car disappears and you can see the ground underneath.

The NX comes with a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing done in 2022 and scored very highly across its individual assessment scores; 91 per cent for adult protection, 89 per cent for child protection, 83 per cent for vulnerable road user, and 92 per cent for its safety assist systems.

Eight airbags are standard which includes a front centre airbag and driver's knee airbag. 

Other safety equipment includes emergency steering assist, blind-spot monitoring, lane departure alert, lane-keeping aid, emergency lane keeping, traffic sign recognition, safe exit assist, rear cross-traffic alert, LED daytime running lights, LED cornering lights, tyre pressure monitoring, and an emergency call button.

The only safety item which can feel intrusive when driving is the adaptive cruise control as it has a feature that scans for bends in the road and will slow the car down in anticipation of them. On paper, this isn’t a bad thing but in practice, it was sporadic when it activated and sometimes slowed the car dramatically on bends you wouldn’t even call bends!

AEB with car, pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, backover and intersection turning assist is standard and operates from 5.0 - 80km/h (up to 180km/h for car detection).

There are two ISOFIX child seat mounts and three top-tether anchor points in the rear row. The seat isn't wide enough to accommodate three child seats side by side, so two will fit best.

Every Palisade is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and roadside assistance is complimentary for the first 12 months, renewed annually (for the life of the vehicle) if you have your Palisade serviced at an authorised Hyundai dealer. 

Service intervals are set at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs soonest, and pre-paid plans are available over three, four or five years.

The latter costs $2445, which equates to $489 per service. Not cheap but not outrageous. 

The NX is offered with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is on par with its European rivals.

It comes with a five-year capped price servicing program, where services are competitively priced at $595 each.

Servicing intervals are reasonable at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.