The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

One of the first questions that came to mind when I looked at the Isuzu Impulse Turbo was how does a Japanese company known primarily as a truck manufacturer come up with such a good looking car? Even in an age when all manufacturers are putting their best face forward on their vehicles, the Impulse is a stand-out design.

This sleek hatchback coupe just blends together beautifully. Bumpers blend into the body, doors and windows blend into the roof and the hatchback blends into the body. There are so many little design touches that one can spend a good deal of time just looking it over, and that is just what I did. It is pure Italian design that is usually seen on high-priced sports cars.

After all it was designed by the world famous Italian designer Giorgio Giugiaro, who has some of the most exciting-looking cars to his credit, including models from Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Porsche and Alfa Romeo. But Isuzu also should be given credit – the company was wise enough to hire Giugiaro in the first place, and smart enough to keep its corporate fingers off his design.

Beauty, of course, is only sheet metal deep. But it certainly can made a good first impression on the viewer. And when a slightly exotic look is given to a moderately priced car, it is even more impressive. I should point out that I was not the only one impressed by the looks of the test car (supplied by Knopf Automotive, 3401 Lehigh Street, Allentown), everyone who looked it over was taken in.

In addition to looking like a traditional Italian sports coupe, the Impulse is quite traditional in engineering. For starters, it is not a front- wheel drive car like so many of today’s performance/sporty cars. The engine is in front, the driving wheels in the rear. Also, it does not have four-wheel independent suspension and does not have MacPherson struts. What all of this proves is that there are still more ways to reach the same objective.

Although Isuzu has been building vehicles for many years (it is credited with being the first automotive manufacturer in Japan back in 1916), it is still not a well-known name in the auto business. Isuzu vehicles came to United States in 1971, but through the back door. For a number of years it produced the Chevy LUV compact truck and it wasn’t until 1981 that it began to sell cars and trucks in this country under its own name.

The Impulse Turbo does not only look fast, it is. And taking credit for this is a 2-liter/121 cubic-inch engine that features an intercooled turbocharger and is rated at 140 horsepower at 5,400 rpm and 166 foot pounds torque at 3,000 rpm. This is enough power to make things interesting for a vehicle weighing in at slightly more than 2,900 pounds. By now, everyone should have heard of a turbocharger (in essence an air pump working off exhaust gas that produces a larger fuel/air charge to the combustion chamber, thus an increa se in power). An intercooled turbocharger is a fairly recent development in passenger vehicles. Like a turbocharge, the intercooler is also a simple device. What it does is cool the turbocharged air before it enters the engine. And by doing this it removes much of the heat generated by the turbocharging process. This, in turn, reduces the temperature and density of the air and allows even a larger fuel/air charge to the combustion chambers. In other words, it increases power even beyond what the turbo is producing.

The test car was equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission that worked very smoothly and apparently didn’t decrease performance. Sports car buffs of course, will probably go for the standard five-speed manual transmission. But don’t put this automatic down too fast. In addition to an overdrive fourth gear, it also has a lock-up clutch. Turbo lag on the test car was almost nonexistent. Even with kicking things down now and then, the test car obtained some very decent fuel mileage – 18 mpg city/2 7 mpg over the highways.

With a wheelbase of 96.1 inches, overall length of 172.6 inches, width of 65.2 inches and height of 51.4 inches, the Impulse is far from the largest car on the road. With an EPA volume index of 90 cubic feet (77 passenger, 13 cargo) the Impulse just sneaks into the subcompact category (85-100 cubic feet). Though like most sports coupes, front seat room is good. The turbo model’s special sports seats feature seven-way adjustment, including leg support and adjustable ”wings” on the sides of the seats. The seats can really hold snugly in place – even when trying to get out of the car. The back seat is best suited for children or noncomplaining adults. Since it is a hatchback, the seatback can be folded for additional storage room.

Instruments and controls are different, to say the least. The test car had the optional electronic instrument panel and the video game look that comes with it. (Analog gauges are standard.) Most of the controls were mounted on two control panels or pods located on the sides of the instrument panel and just beneath the steering wheel. Obviously, this was for fingertip control. But like all controls designed so close to the steering wheel, it is easy to activate something you weren’t really trying to activate. The pods had a very plastic and ”Transformer” look to them. I won’t say that the instruments and controls were bad but I certainly can’t say they were good. I wonder if Giugiaro designs dash boards?

The Impulse Turbo handles, well, like you would expect it to. Front suspension features control arms with coil springs while the rear has a five- link design on its live axle. No new ground broken here. Also featured are anti-sway bars fore and aft, four-wheel disc brakes and power rack-and-pinion steering. Even with the live axle, ride quality was quite good.

Base price for the Isuzu Turbo is $14,439 and standard equipment includes: air conditioning, power brakes, power steering, aluminum alloy wheels, tinted glass, rear window defogger, rear window wiper/washer, power outsider mirrors, power windows with one-touch driver’s button, power door locks, AM-FM ETR stereo cassette with power booster and graphic equalizer with four speakers and tilt steering wheel with memory. Full price on the test car came to $15,988, including an inland freight charge of $249. The two options were the four-speed automatic transmission, $520, and the leather package (leather seat facings and door trim, a leather wrapped steering wheel and shift knob and a digital instrument panel), $780.