The 2026 Hyundai Palisade is currently navigating through several challenges. In addition to evolving market dynamics, certain trim levels were also afflicted by a recall involving the power operated rear-seats.

Bu despite these challenges, the Palisade continues to be a very strong seller for Hyundai. Bur what if you’re an adventure-seeker that’s looking for soft-roading thrills but still needs to haul the family to school and the store during the week? The 2026 Palisade XRT PRO attempts to answer this need, but is it still the perfect tool for the job in a changing world?

XRT PRO is the rugged one

When you look at the Palisade lineup as a whole, it’s clear the model has a distinctive personality depending on trim level. The Caligraphy is doing its best to impersonate a Genesis product and the base models are focusing on value. The XRT PRO then can be considered to be the rugged nature lover of the bunch thanks in part to its distinctive styling cues.

While the core formula is shared with other Palisades, the XRT PRO goes off in its own unique direction. This is immediatly apparent when you look at the revised front and rear bumpers which were tweaked to help improve ground clearance. The front end also gets red-tinged tow hooks and the front grille is exclusive to this trim level. This is a noticeable uprgade from the outgoing XRT and drives home the point about the big SUV being the spearhead of the XRT PRO sub-brand.

The interior is also reflective of its backwoods demeanor. The buttery soft leather and wood accents of the Caligraphy are swapped out for more functional appointments with the seats getting leatherette upholstery. This upholstery is supposedly easier to clean if things get mucky and the rubber floor mats also do their part to keep the dirt out.

Like other Hyundais, the SUV gets a pair of 12.3-inch screens but hauling people and carg is where our tester truly shined with the frotn and second row seats offering impressive amounts of leg and headroom. Even the thrid-row is livable for most adults though it’s still the preferred real-estate of small children on long road trips.

The perfect beast of burden for any occasion

The XRT Pro was designed to be a trail seeker but with Metro Detroit not exactly being known for its abundance of trials, our tester was relegated to daily commuter duties on pavement which is perfectly fine. Our tester was powered by a 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 which is the only way you can et the XRT since the hybrid engine is not currently offered on it. The engine makes 287 hp and is mated to an eight-speed automatic.

The XRT PRO is happiest when it gets to go through the motions on its own terms, and this model benefits from an electronically controlled limited-slip differential, and all-terrain tires. That latter item also helped keep the Palisade from exploring its dynamic limits with plenty of tire nois letting the driver know when its time to back off in corners. Respect those limits, and the all-terrain tires make up for it by providing solid amounts of grip which came in handy during some of the wet weather that rolled through during the latter half of its stay with us. Acceleration was on the tepid side with oru tester needing 8.1 seconds to make the noisy jog to 60 mph.

The EPA says the XRT PRO can get 16/22/19 mpg in city/highway/combined driving making this particular version of the Palisade the thirstiest of the bunch. Despite that, the XRT is still o par with other soft-roading rivals including the Ford Explorer Tremor.

Value Quotient

With the XRT Pro being limited to non-hybrid Palisade models only, buyers will have to skip out on the hybrid versio entirely if they want to have a chce to add one to their garage. A base XRT PRO starts at $49,870 which makes it the second most expensive member of the traditional Palisade lineup.

Our tester had minimal options but taxes and fees helped push it past $50,000. This pricing is on par with the Explorer Tremor and is slightly less expensive than the Honda Pilot TrailSport. While Hyundai reps have stated in the past that some of the Hybrid model’s interns would not work with the XRT PRO upgrades, we still feel Hyundai missed out on a good opportunity to ge attention and do something different in the soft roader ranks by adding in a hybrid option for fuel conscious adventurers.

But when viewed by the sum of its parts, the 2026 Hyundai Palisade XRT PRO is still an excellent soft-roader. It has the rugged looks to make it fit-in at the trail and enough functionality and technology to make it work when treks to the mall and school are on the agenda for the day.