Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo resurfaces

The Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo is the kind of car that makes internet car culture feel useful. A random post brings it back into view, and suddenly people remember that Isuzu once sold a turbocharged, all-wheel-drive hatchback with Lotus-tuned suspension in the U.S. That sounds made up now — but it was real, and it was weird in exactly the right way. The reason it’s resurfacing is simple: the car world keeps running out of obvious 1990s heroes, so the overlooked stuff starts looking better. ### What was the Impulse RS, exactly? It was the top performance version of the second-generation Isuzu Impulse sold in North America for 1991 and 1992. The regular Impulse already stood out because Isuzu gave the whole line “Handling by Lotus” tuning, but the RS added the big stuff — a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder, a 5-speed manual, and all-wheel drive. Import Archive’s brocn people are talking about now. ### Why do people keep saying “Lotus-tuned”? Because that part is not marketing fluff. Back when GM had stakes in both Isuzu and Lotus, Lotus engineers influenced the chassis setup on these cars. The suspension geometry, damping, stabilizer bars, spring rates, and trailing-arm locations were revised from the Geo Storm sibling’s setup. Basically, the Impulse got the serious chassis work while the platform mate got the cheaper reputation. ### Was it actually quick? Quick enough to matter, especially for an early-1990s compact hatch. Edmunds lists the U.S.-market 1991 RS at 160 hp and 150 lb-ft, with a curb weight of 2,732 pounds and AWD. That is not huge power by modern standards, but in a light car with a manual and boost, it gave the RS a punchy, eager character. The online chatter usually lands in the 0–60 mph range you’d expect for a car like that — brisk, not supercar, but very alive. ### Why did it disappear? Price and timing. The Drive notes that the RS carried a $2,800 premium over the XS, and buyers in North America mostly did not bite. Hemmings makes the bigger point — the car was an oddball in a market that had not fully embraced small turbo AWD coupes yet, even though Japan already had plenty of them. So the Impulse RS arrived early, sold in tiny numbers, and then got buried when Isuzu moved away from passenger cars altogether. ### How rare is rare? Pretty rare. A 2024 Bring a Trailer listing for a 27,000-mile 1991 Impulse RS Turbo AWD said about 600 were produced for the U.S. market for that model year. Wikipedia’s broader figure is also useful here — by 2010, total registered Impulses in North America were said to be only 2,300 across the whole line, which helps explain why even longtime enthusiasts barely ever see one. ### Is the market finally noticing? A little, yes. That same Bring a Trailer car sold for $18,940 in August 2024. That is not skyline-money, obviously, but it is real money for a car that used to live in the “what even is that?” category. The shift is less about explosive prices and more about recognition — the Impulse RS is moving from forgotten oddity to legitimate niche collectible. ### So why is this car landing now? Because the formula suddenly reads well in 2026. Small size. Manual gearbox. turbo four. AWD. Weird badge. Lotus connection. It’s like a mixtape of enthusiast keywords, but attached to a car most people missed the first time. As the obvious Japanese icons get more expensive, the Impulse RS starts to look less like an obscure footnote and more like a genuinely smart deep cut. ### Bottom line The Isuzu Impulse RS Turbo did not change history. But turns out it did almost everything enthusiasts say they want — light weight, boost, grip, and character — years before people were ready to care. That’s why it keeps resurfacing.