1991 Isuzu Impulse RS 1.6 turbo

Faults:

Cam Angle Sensor, alternator, oil supply hose replaced.

General Comments:

Great car, very fun to drive. If you drop it an inch or so it handles like it's on rails with the AWD. Turbo is a bit small, but upgrades are available. Car is way ahead of it's time for a '91.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 6th December, 2005

19th Dec 2005, 20:01

About half a year ago I purchase a ’91 Isuzu Impulse. It had been sitting for almost 7 years. The turbo was taken out and lost while being rebuilt. So finding a replacement resulted in a trip to Ft. Worth Texas. Soon we realized that the crankshaft needed replacement along with a decision to rebuild the engine. Most of the parts were easily found through the dealership, which I might add were very helpful. Our biggest problem was finding the right main and rod bearings. Not only was size an issue, but for the main bearings need oil injector holes. Just so happens that every company I researched discontinued the manufacturing of these bearings. We found a local machine shop to custom drill holes into the mains for the injectors. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem and if so how did they get around it.

Overall its a great car that handles like a dream and was way ahead of its time.

28th Dec 2005, 17:15

Rod and main bearings are available. A quick check, and I found that rockauto.com has them listed for sale.

1991 Isuzu Impulse RS 1.6 DOHC

Summary:

Total babe-mobile, too old to be worth buying a used one now!

Faults:

Everything structural that could have went wrong did.

I have had more welding done than the statue of liberty.

Don't even think about fooling around with the lady friend in this car... I think they designed this car for a family of pigmies according to the space in the back seat.

Front seat room is ample.

General Comments:

Very unique car, good handling, never had many problems with the engine.

-Structurally the car is terrible

-The windshield wiper motor is located in a very weird place under the hood

-mine broke off its mountings, I had to bolt it back on

-now the motor only makes one of the wipers work, and that wiper stays on until you shut off the car...

-I would recommend highly never buying this car used now, it is just too old and you will be paying for years to come when everything underneath the car goes

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 16th April, 2004

1991 Isuzu Impulse XS 1.6 4 cylinder 16v

Summary:

A poor man's import sports car

Faults:

Timing chain broke at 220000 km, it was replaced by the previous owner.

Rear-right tail light assembly began absorbing moisture and shorting out lighting circuit at 245000 km, I drained out the assembly of water, re-sealed it and repaired the wiring and terminals.

After changing brake pads at 260000 km, rear brake caliper's bolt threading was worn beyond re-fastening. Both calipers were replaced.

Ignition module failed at 265000 km, factory original. Aftermarket module was installed. This did not entirely solve the problem as it still has a tendency to idle extremely low after rapid deceleration.

Currently, the clutch bearing is beginning to hiss, as part of transmission wear, gears are becoming hard to shift into, and rust has rapidly accumulated around the rear wheel wells.

General Comments:

I am simply amazed at the car's durability, let alone it's style. With the amount of rust that it has, and the hail damage it has endured, people still turn heads for this car. A dark blue color sets the greatest tone, matching the car's low profile.

Believe it or not, the clutch is still factory original at 270000 km! It has ceased to amaze me that after a lot of abuse that I have put this car through, everything is still mechanically sound; with a few minor exceptions.

Did I mention great fuel economy? 400-425 km to a tank of about 40 liters (12.4 gallons).

However, the engine and road noise is considerably high in this car, and putting people in the backseat will be quite difficult for anyone above 5 feet tall.

Finding a car like this is hard, but if you do, the price tag is dirt cheap (around $2000 used), and so are parts too!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th November, 2003

4th Apr 2005, 14:37

Where do you get the parts? I am looking for a muffler. I am being quoted 400 dollars.

10th Apr 2005, 13:27

Um, just go down to your local muffler shop and have them weld in just about any generic muffler to your liking? $400 is insane. Even most aftermarket high performance mufflers for high-end cars cost less than $400.

27th Apr 2005, 14:14

As for a muffler for this beauty of mine, I customized it myself, using parts from Canadian Tire. If you're a US resident, I'm sure a pep boys or auto zone will carry the cherry bomb line of mufflers, then re-fit using piping in-store. No real big problem with doing that, so long as you know a bit about mounting exhaust. Oh, by the way.. my car is STILL running, I'm up to 292000km now. At 300000, I think I'll throw a tailgate party for it.

6th Dec 2005, 09:39

I have the same car, but light blue. I can agree with most of you stuff too. I have beaten this car so much. I used to drive "rally" on my backg roads all the time, where huge rocks would hit against the bottom of the car. When I bought it, the clutch was slipping a little, so I adjusted the cable to the point where it is basically hanging loose without the clutch pressed. That was about 2 years ago and the clutch is still holding strong.

I am right now in the process of changing my driver side axle due to a broken CV-joint (probably due to the rally or/and a ripped boot). I can say that the car as > 130k miles and that it never ever broke down on me since the 2 years I had it.

Very sporty, good handling and to me its pretty quick too, I love this car so much.

Should also mention that I have never seen the same car on the street yet.

11th Mar 2009, 20:24

I have an all wheel drive model myself. Possibly one of the rarest cars in the US, not to mention one of the most sleek looking cars from the early nineties.