Hoshino Impul Co., Ltd., (known as Impul) is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company based in

Setagaya-ku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orc ...

, Tokyo. Founded by Nissan's factory driver,

Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a Japanese former racing driver and businessman. Motorsport career Hoshino's nickname was . He won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan factor ...

, the company exclusively produces aftermarket parts for Nissans, such as

bodykit A body kit or bodykit is a set of modified body parts or additional components that install on a stock car. Typically composed of front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers, bonnets (bonnet scoop), and sometimes front and rear side guar ...

s, engine components as well as wheels.

History

The company was founded in 1980 by the Nissan works driver,

in Maruko-cho,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the north ...

. Within months, Impul produced its first product, the ''IMPUL D-01'' wheel, which to promote it, it found its way on Hoshino's Gr. 5

Silvia Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of ...

racing competing in the Formula Silhouette, a

Fuji Grand Champion The ran from 1971 to 1989. It was a drivers' championship in Japan and was originally for 2 litre Group B6 cars. The series was started in 1971, and all races were held at the Fuji Speedway circuit. History In its formative years, cars eligi ...

support series, as well as starting a Tokyo-based sales center in Sayama-shi,

Saitama-ken is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 (1,4 ...

. A year later, that was relocated in

Kichijōji __NOTOC__ is a neighborhood in the city of Musashino in Western Tokyo, Japan. It is centered on a compact but popular commercial area to the north and south of Kichijoji Station, with a full range of shops, restaurants, bars, and coffee hous ...

, Musashino-shi. In 1983, Hoshino formed Hoshino Racing Limited, a racing team to help promote his products and because of expansion, he relocated his company in Shimorenjaku, Mitaka as well as establishing a depot nearby. In 1987, Impul offered its first fully tuned car, the IMPUL 630R, a tuned Y30

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkin ...

Cedric Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanator ...

. In 2002, the racing relocated to

Gotemba, Shizuoka is a city on the southeastern flank of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,370 in 36,096 households, and a population density of 450 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geograph ...

. After that, the company began to focus on tuning cars and has since tuned the

Infiniti M The Infiniti M is a line of mid-size luxury (executive) cars from the Infiniti luxury division of Nissan. From 2013 (model year 2014) on it has been marketed as the Infiniti Q70, reflecting the company's new naming scheme. The first iteration wa ...

, which became the Impul 651S, and the

Nissan Juke The is a subcompact crossover SUV (B-segment) produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan since 2010. Debuted as a production vehicle at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March and positioned below the C-segment Qashqai, it was introduced t ...

. Both of these examples of Impul's tuning has changes to the bumpers, engines, brakes, tires, exhaust system, among other things.

VIP style VIP style ( ja, ビップカー, lit=VIP car) is a car modification trend that translates from the Romanised Japanese term 'bippu.' It refers to the modification of Japanese luxury automobiles to make them lower and wider in stance, with more ...

is the common element Impul has incorporated on.

Motorsport

Since 1983, the company ran its own racing team which found success in domestic series such as JTCC,

Formula Nippon The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ...

and

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing, grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super ...

. Hoshino was the first driver to win in the team's R32 GT-R during a JTCC race in 1990. In addition to Hoshino, notable Impul drivers include

Masahiko Kageyama is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in the Japanese Grand Touring Car series in the top category between 1993 and 2002. Kageyama won the inaugural Japanese Grand Touring Car championship, in the Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 ...

(1993 Japanese Touring Car Championship winner),

Satoshi Motoyama Satoshi Motoyama (本山哲 - Motoyama Satoshi; born March 4, 1971) is a Japanese professional racing driver and team manager. He is best known for racing in the Super GT Series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC ...

(2001, 2003 and 2005 Formula Nippon champion),

Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer (; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver. Early career Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He ...

(2006 Formula Nippon champion),

Tsugio Matsuda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He has won the Formula Nippon series twice, in 2007 and 2008. He has also competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Matsuda has also become a regular participant in the Super GT series which ...

(2007 and 2008 Formula Nippon champion),

Yuji Ide (born 21 January 1975) is a Japanese racing driver. He is the 2005 Formula Nippon runner-up and the 2010 Suzuka 1000km winner. He competed in Formula One with the Super Aguri team in 2006, but was demoted to third driver after four races and ...

, and

Kohei Hirate is a Japanese race car driver. Hirate has won the Super GT series twice. Career Hirate began karting in 1999 when he was 13. After winning the All Japan Junior Kart Championship, coming third and fifth in the All Japan Kart Championship and com ...

. Its primary sponsor since 1996 is auto parts supplier

Calsonic was a Japanese automotive company with 58 manufacturing centres spread throughout the United States, European Union, South Korea, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, India, China, and Malaysia. The corporation was the result of a merger in 2000 be ...

Complete JGTC Results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Super GT results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.

References

External links