It may not seem fair to pit a three-row SUV from the more affordable end of the luxury segment up against something from a mainstream brand, and a brand that prides itself on value, its big people-mover priced to be accessible to a more thrifty audience.

In the beginning, this wasn’t the plan. We’d hoped to put Driving’s long-term Hyundai Palisade up against one of the perennial bestsellers in the segment, the new Ford Explorer, which is fresh off a redesign and loaded with advanced features. However, there was an incident outside of Ford’s control and they had to pull the Explorer at the last minute. We’ll have to reschedule that particular throwdown; with the Explorer’s recent redesign, it promises to be a very interesting one.

But in the meantime, we had a top-of-the-line 2020 Hyundai Palisade Ultimate on our hands, and
ever since one of our Youtube viewers asked us whether the Hyundai Palisade was as quiet as an Acura MDX or Mercedes GLE, it cemented the idea that car shoppers will cross shop this Hyundai with traditional luxury brands. And if ever there was a perfect luxury crossover for us to compare, and for Hyundai to benchmark, it is the Acura MDX, which owned the three-row luxury SUV market for over a decade based on its value, practicality and quality. Was it ever as luxurious as the options from BMW, Audi and Mercedes? Not in my eyes, but it was always good, it drives well, it’s a bargain and all-around a damned fine crossover.

With the explosion of crossovers in every size and segment, the Acura is beset on all sides and its dominance is starting to slide, and the Palisade seems to be to the MDX what the MDX used to be to the German seven-seaters. Great value, great practicality, and a brand that has started earning trust in terms of reliability and quality.

Continue reading at: https://driving.ca/hyundai/reviews/co...

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