Hoshino Impul Co., Ltd., commonly known as Impul, is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company and racing team based in

Setagaya-ku is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the Habenaria radi ...

, Tokyo. Founded by

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

'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 facto ...

, the company exclusively produces aftermarket parts for Nissans, such as bodykits, engine components as well as wheels.

History

The company was founded in 1980 by the

works driver,

in Maruko-cho,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

. 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 (given name), Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the m ...

racing competing in the Formula Silhouette, a Fuji Grand Champion support series, as well as starting a Tokyo-based sales center in Sayama-shi, Saitama-ken. A year later, that was relocated in

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

, 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/

Cedric Cedric () is a given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''. Etymology The invented name is based on ''Cerdic'', the name of a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon king (itself from Brittonic '' Coroticus''). Popularity The name was ...

. In 2002, the racing relocated to

Gotemba, Shizuoka is a Cities of Japan, 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 ...

. 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 later naming formula. The first iteratio ...

, 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, it was introduced to North America at the 2010 New York Int ...

. Both of these examples of Impul's tuning has changes to the bumpers, engines, brakes, tires, exhaust system, among other things. VIP style 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 held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The s ...

and

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

. 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 (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, All- ...

(2001, 2003 and 2005 Formula Nippon champion),

Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Jean-Marie 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 ...

(2006 Formula Nippon champion),

Tsugio Matsuda is a Japanese professional racing driver for Nissan and Kondo Racing in the Super GT Series, and a team ambassador for KCMG (auto racing team), KCMG in the Super Formula Championship, Super Formula Championship. He is the Super GT Series' all- ...

(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 c ...

. From 1988 to 2022, auto parts supplier

Calsonic , formerly Calsonic Kansei Corporation, is a Japan-based multinational automotive parts manufacturer with 58 manufacturing centres spread throughout the United States, European Union, South Korea, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, India, China, a ...

served as their primary sponsor in touring car racing. Their partnership continued for another two years following the rebranding to

Marelli Marelli Europe S.p.A. (formerly Magneti Marelli S.p.A.) is a European subsidiary of Marelli Holdings which develops and manufactures components for the automotive industry. The firm is headquartered in Corbetta, Italy, and includes 86 manufact ...

until the end of 2024. In 2025, Tokyo Radiator became their new sponsor in Super GT.

Racing results

Complete JGTC results

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

Complete Super GT results

( key) (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

* {{Automotive industry in Japan Formula Nippon teams Super Formula teams Japanese auto racing teams Automotive companies based in Tokyo Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Automotive companies established in 1980 Wheel manufacturers Automotive motorsports and performance companies Japanese brands Super GT teams Super Taikyu teams Toyota in motorsport Nissan in motorsport World Sportscar Championship teams