Highway driving experience in Hyundai Palisade: ADAS, comfort, mileage

While the cabin isn't as quiet as the Mercedes GLC, I was very much impressed by one of the ADAS features.

BHPian nikhilarni recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Highway driving experience

I had to make an impromptu trip to Dulles Airport (outskirts of DC) from Pittsburgh and back.

A total journey of about 500 odd miles, point to point, with a drive time of about four and a half hours each way.

Map - for reference

I have done this route umpteen times and love the hilly section between Somerset and till about Hagerstown. It is a hilly section with twists and turns, ranging from gentle sweepers to relatively sharp corners. One particular turn I love is a tunnel exit leading into a fairly sharp curve and steep gradient. A good break from the straight boring highways.

Here is the section that is most fun to drive

This was my first highway drive on the Barouche since she came home.

Some stats

• Total drive time: 10h 12m
• Total Distance: 523 miles
• Mileage: 22.7mpg

I generally cruise just about the speed limit, and tend to stick to the speed the traffic is flowing at.

Traffic was light for the most part of the journey, making for a pleasant drive.

First impressions of my Barouche on the highway

I am big on cruise control. Like I had mentioned earlier, ACC was a non-negotiable feature, the new car must have.

• The car handled well with no noticeable body roll on the turns / curves.
• Cabin isn't as quiet as the GLC (oh boy!, there I go making comparisons again). There is road noise that seeps into the cabin.
• I have not settled into a comfy driving position and wasn't too fatigued by the drive. The massager kicks in every 30-odd mins giving a nice relaxing back and lumbar massage. Heated seats in the morning and cooled seats on the return - comfy as can be.
• Fairly commanding driving position with good visibility.
• Crappy sound system. Nowadays, I prefer to stick to NPR (news or talk shows) rather than music. I am just not in tune with the latest artists or songs. I was just about tuned into NPR the whole time.

Now for the ADAS review

I kept trying out the auto lane change feature at different speeds as well as on the curved sections. Impressive, I must admit. Lane changing was smooth and flawless. Car centres itself in the new lane without giving me any heart-in-the-mouth experiences.

The lane watch kept the car fairly centred, without human steering inputs.

One feature I wasn't aware of is that the cruise control is GPS-controlled as well. The car would automatically slow down on sharp turns / curves and then accelerate back. What was impressive is that the braking would happen before the car enters the curve, and once out of the curve, it would gently accelerate back to the set speed.

Initially, I wasn't sure about what was going on, but got used to it. Every time the car slowed down on a curve, the "NAV" light on the dash kept blinking. I had just about enough time to look this up before my return drive.

I am impressed with this feature, esp for a car at this price point. My other cars would just continue to maintain the set speed irrespective of the road conditions and would require human inputs to slow down. Not this one!

A mileage of around 22 for the given terrain, isn't bad.

Clicked a few pics en route.

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