I said it was 'cool,' didn't say it was a tank supercar... 4-wheel steer, Active Aero, and the slough of other goodies, coupled with a twin-turbo V6 on a 6-speed wired to all four wheels? What's not to love!?
Also, yes the Starion and other DSM's of the 80's would smoke an 80's Impulse, and yes Isuzus are kind of junky... But I was talking about the tech aspect of the cars, in which I'd rather (regardless of base hp) have an Impulse (80's JR body) over a Starion or Conquest...
However, my 90's Impulses, I found, were a better car than the DSM's I encountered. Further, a friend of mine with an Impulse RS would purposefully go out on the prowl looking for Talon TSi's and Eclipse GSx's, just to put them to shame. Even further still, a friend of mine purposefully swapped an RS engine and AWD drivetrain into the sister car, the Geo Storm, just so he could race Talons and Eclipses and V8 Mustangs and such and make them go, "Holy f***, I just got beat BY A GEO!!!!" Loved it!
Also, the Impulse's/Storm's other sister car was the Lotus Elan M100, hence the reason the JI body (90s) had the suspension designed by Lotus themselves, in exchange for Lotus using the drivetrain from the RS for their Elan M100, and since GM propagated this echange of technology, GM got the Storm (the low-performance ***** of the group) out of the deal...
Isuzu is STILL designing vehicles for GM, but GM does not market them in the US as Isuzu so much anymore..... The Chevy Colorado, for instance, is an Isuzu design, which is why you can get them in Isuzu badging. Plus, the
D-Max just looks BADASS! No idea why they don't sell them in the USA!!!
And on the subject of Isuzu trucks: There is nothing known to man that is tougher than the Isuzu Pickup. <3
- CK
