MotorWeek | Retro Review: '90 Geo Storm GSi 

Remember in the middle the 80s to early 90s when it was fun to go to your Chevrolet Pontiac snd Ford dealership and look at all the cars and it wasn’t just all SUVs

These old reviews have me hooked. Man how the times have changed.

This man will not rest until every vehicle comes equipped with a volt meter and oil temp meter. He got so happy that it has them lol.

Took delivery of my black 5 speed with A/C, 2+2 on June 25th 1990. Still own it, currently has about 63K miles and looks showroom new. The original black paint is flawless and 10 miles deep. I've yet to grow tired of its looks and rowing through that awesome 5 speed is a blast. Only changes are a CD stereo and the factory '91 15" GSi wheels. Still have the original stereo and wheels too. Ordered it when I was 19 and now at 45 it's just nostalgia for me. So many great times and road trips. It shares the garage with an extremely rare Porsche and I swear if there was ever a fire, the Geo would be the first to be saved.

It’s like a Camaro and a Saturn had a baby

He is hiding it but he loooooves those voltmeter and oil pressure gauges.

I had a 91 GSI with the better wheels and tires. It handled great and was a lot of fun. Drove it from VA to Cali and back when I was in the Navy lol

i actually think it's a pretty good looking car. especially for those days

Owned a base model w/manual trans. Fun to drive, economical and dependable. Also had a non-interference valve train so a broken timing belt did not equal an engine rebuild like a lot of the Japanese cars in the same class. Great econobox for its time.

Bought the fully loaded GSI soon as they came out in 1990...drove it for 10 years at about 150k miles...was my first new car and loved it!

I'll never forget going to Mid-America Raceway back in like 1992 with my dad and seeing one of these lining up against a 69 Camaro with a blown small block, only for the Storm to rip off a 10 second quarter mile and blow the doors off that Camaro. Yes, it still had the 4 cylinder, my dad and I were both shocked. It looked bone stock, and neither of us were expecting anything like that out of a Geo.

I owned a 90 gsi for 6 years it was my first new car! Had 180k on it when i sold it. Car was a cool car for its time. I remember driving it to Florida from Ohio a few times. It was a great car at the local cruz spot. A lot of people liked this car back in the day. Not many problems out of mine. In the door jam it said made in japan by isuzu. Once i fit 3 people in the back seat!! I kept it clean as hell. Every now and then you see one, but they realy have died out. It would be amazing to drive one thats in good shape again. Thank you Motorweek for saving this part of history. It is the best video on you tube of the GEO STORM GSi. Several months ago i asked if you could put up a video of the Storm in an email to someone over at Motorweek. Thank you again. Jeff

Thank you for the RETRO REVIEW Motorweek!!! I missed my white 90 Geo Storm (base model which I modded with ground effect plus more) when I gave it away to my folks back in the late 90s. I missed it so much that last year I bought a black 90 Geo Storm GSI for $800; she handles pretty darn well for having 180K miles which I believe the previous owner rebuilt the engine because it still runs great for a 25 year old car. To top it off, the car has minimal rust and small dings/body damage for the age of the car; can be repaired with minimum skill and time. All electronics are functional and all I have to do now is just have her PAINTED black all over again so the car would stand out. Like everyone is saying, "You hardly find one and when you do people are smiling and asking "where can I get one?"" :) Question? What alternate color will look great for this car (I was looking a dark blue)?

Had a 92 Gsi. Still one of my favorite cars I've ever owned. Raw, loud, and handled well. Really fun to drive!

Great timing turning the radio on. The bass solo of 'My Generation'!

A friend of mine had one of these around 1996 or so when we were in high school. It's what I learned to drive a manual in. It was a good little car.

I gotta say, when I first saw one of these drive down my street as a kid back in the very early 90's, I thought it looked cool as hell. I loved the headlights and did briefly mistake it for a miniature Camaro from the front. I didn't know what the hell it was. These are still cool. They look better than the Impulse, although I wish the Storm had been given a turbo option. Even still, 84 mph trap speed is very respectable for a freaking 1990 Geo, especially one with only 125 hp. Then again, I just got finished watching the Retro Review of the 1990 Lincoln Town Car which had a 5.0L V8 that only made 150 hp...

You made me cry when I saw the CRX Si...when Honda actually made cars we wanted! Honda cars today are dull boring boxes. Great video! I love these old school vids:)

I always like the geo storm gsi! Especially the 90-91 models with the flip up headlights. In high school I remember everyone raving about it when a friends brother bought one (a base model). It was a cool car though, with a cool design although the rear seats sucked if you were above 5'8 your head would hit the rear window. They were pretty quick with the five speed though, it gave a cavalier Z24 a run (at least the automatic ones vs five speed storm).

I had a 1990 Storm as a college kid. I needed a transportation for a long commute and my dad got a great deal on one and purchased it without me seeing it first. I was skeptical at first, but it really grew on me. It handled really well and the power wasn't all that bad. I think it's a very underrated car for its time.

I remember getting Geo Storm brochures in the mail back in the day. I thought the hidden door handles were cool.

I bought yellow '91 GSi 2+2 in manual at the end of summer of 2022. 67k mileage, interior like brand new. It had it's issue but it's all going to be dealt with in 2023. It's really great car for it's size and power. I love it a lot.

Great looking little car. If the interior materials and engineering had been held up to the same standard as the design this would have been a classic.

The first Saturn I mistook for a mildly updated Geo Storm, thought it was just 4 door variation. I had over 275,000 miles on my Storm with no major repairs,my neighbor went thru 3 new Saturns during the same period with engine failures at 60 to 80 thousand miles on each of them. Many was the time I towed his latest shiny new Saturn home behind my dusty old Isuzu clone. He got about 200,000 miles out of THREE new Saturns in total, made my Storm quite a bargain for the money. He traded his last Saturn in on a new Daewoo, I towed that home behind my Storm twice. I suspect my neighbor has been a victim of some sort of automotive voodoo curse of some kind !

I had a '91 back in 2000 and loved it.. such a fun little car for the price..

I'm so addicted to John's videos. This was a great little sports car back in the day 🏁 brand new for under 13k ...just....wow

I remember my uncle buying one of these new. My teenage self said "Cool, it looks like Camaro!". He reminded me that it was anything but that.

The front looks so sexy and sporty and looks very masculine.. It resembles the front end of a 93-97 camaro Z28 with the same headlights and fog lights and turn signals...looks like a Minnie camaro Z28...anybody agree with me?

I miss Isuzu's cars. I'd love a Stylus with the twin-cam, or turbo AWD Impulse.

I looked through Autotrader to find a GSI for about 3 months before I finally pulled the trigger on a 5 speed base model in 2001. With 95 hp, I added a Pacesetter header, HotShot intake and had a muffler shop header-back exhaust. I set out to wipe smiles off faces...and she did just that.

The front end always reminds me of my mom’s Buick Shyhawk (coupe) GM family face 😂 I always wanted one of those 🥺 memories

My aunt had a Geo Storm. It was wonderful. Lot's of power and comfortable for her and husband.

(17yrs old) I so remember seeing a Storm on a distant car carrier. I was like, is that the new Camaro. Being a 3rd gen fan, I was so happy to find out it was not....then came the 4th gen Camaro, We get a Fat Geo Storm :(

GSi is a trim level GM used in Germany on some Opel models too, drove as passenger in a equally sporty looking Opel Astra B GSi. Those '90s cars are becoming so hot to me again.

I had a yellow one that I bought in 2005'ish with 210K on it. I used it as a long distance commuter car for 3 years before selling it when I needed to get rid of a car. I really enjoyed that car. I had put coil overs in it, better wheels/tires, Euro beam lights, and a bunch of other things. It was a great driving car...very comfortable, handled like on rails, 40 MPG, good in snow, and so on. Wish I could have kept it, but I had to let go of something, and at the time, my more practical car won out.

My first new car was a 1991 Geo Storm (not GSi)with a 5 speed. I put over 210,000 miles on it before I traded it in needing more space. In that time I replaced the timing belt 3 times (because you had to at 60k miles) replaced the tires 4 times and did two brake jobs. Other than that and oil changes, I never had a problem with it. Heck, it was still on the original clutch! It was a great first new car for that era, especially since I was commuting about 200 miles daily. Noise wise, 71db is still what you see in most cars today, heck check out a Prius- those things are deafening.

I had one of these in high school. My senior year the tranny was screwed and I lost reverse. It was so light I put my foot out the door like the flinstones and could push it in reverse on flat surfaces. I used it like this for 6 months until I needed a sticker. I was also 400 lbs at the time and my stomach hit the steering wheel. The chair touched the back seat when it was all the way back. One thing was it had the greatest fuel mileage you could imagine. It had a switch to save fuel. But it would have problems getting up hills and I dont remember ever getting over 35 on steep hills

It looks like an early Saturn SC2

I LOVED this car when I was in high school. I wanted one in the worst way. Kind of a neat example for it's time.

I had a 91 geo storm gsi. I loved that car. Had 177k miles when i sold it. Still ran like new and had original clutch in it

I miss mine. I had the Aqua 1990 Geo Storm GSI. That car was so much fun and an attention getter, lol. My friends hated the back seat. She had some get up and go. It was dangerous though. I would fishtail on tight turns in the rain. I became an expert getting out of them.

I had a GF in high school with a yellow one, I thought it was a joke girl car till later in life I saw one killing the competition at an auto cross.

I bought this car recently with a dust cover and a nice pair of driving shoes for it. It's a 30 year old car with small blemishes but I'm happy to restore the whole thing as I drive it occasionally. Now I'm a happy man.

I like those headlights. Seems like that can still be made "modern" since people don't like full flip lights anymore (and for safety reasons in pedestrian impact). But it'll be cool to have just a tiny "flip" in new cars.

Thanks for taking the time to post these!

I know a few people who had them...mechanically they were good cars. In the Midwest they rusted right behind the door in the rocker panels.

Very cool I remember my friend Andre had one of these back in the day, it was far better than his first car, his mom's dodge Horizon which nothing worked properly lol

That little 1.6 DOHC 16V was a screamer!

Hey @MotorWeek, do you guys have a review of a 2000 Buick Park Ave? I also wanted to say thanks and thanks for the memories..I used to watch this on Sunday afternoons on UNC-TV PBS when I was 8 yrs old. Good to see the old reviews and the "evolution" of John Davis. :D

My best friend had one of these back in the early 2000s. It was a fun little sport compact car! He kept it for years until the motor blew. He still regrets just not putting in a rebuilt one

The Storms were good cars. Worked for Avis back in late 89 who ordered several of them, and they became popular rentals and reliable too.

I had this year and color wiith 200k miles. It was beautiful. I loved the styling. The seats were cool looking and comfy. It was fun to drive and peppy. Needed a sixth gear as 80 was a buzzy 4k rpm. Loved it and would definitely get another.

I had the rare twin. I loved the impulse round headlights. it was fun to drive but it constantly left me stranded.

My sister had a white 93. I loved it.

I never owned. But I did know a girl in 1990 who bought one new... She was a real pleasure to look at. Maybe 21 at the time. So the car was a after though!

Ah the Geo Storm... I had the GSi verison back then and took the rear "seats" out and just filled it with subwoofers. Had a mechanic friend help me retrofit a larger alternator onto it(can't remember what it came out of anymore) that was a 120amps. That car was perfect for large bass the way my setup was turned the whole car into a rolling sub box. I had people who would literally get out of the car and throw up after testing it out.

Wish I still had my 91 gsi 5spd. I loved that car. Sold it with 177k miles and still ran like new

Dam I miss my Geo metro convertable. It had the turbine innercooler. Wopping 108 HP!

Motorweek, I love all of your retro review videos! The extra power plug in the Storm reminded me of your review of the Mitsubishi 3000GT/Dodge Stealth from back in the day. Any chance you guys could upload the 91 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4/Dodge Stealth Turbo review? I remember watching it so many times, but I can't seem to find it anymore. Thanks!

Brings back memories, I had one in 1999

Test drove one of these (used) when I was dead broke in med school in 1999. Coming from the crap old cars I had to drive back then, this thing felt like a Ferrari to me, but it cost $3500 and was way out of my price range. I currently have a new BMW M6, but tbh nothing will ever be as awesome to me as this little car was in that situation.

My best friend had a new one and I enjoyed driving it on Saturday nights.

I used to have one of these. Loved it.

I had one of these, a teal 1991 GSi. I was a surprisingly good car and everything worked on it when I sold it at 188000 miles. I still see it around from time to time, not a bad car at all. Not as awesome as my geo metro was but more fun for sure!

Nice and lovely design, here in Europe haven´t see one but here had a similar rivals like a Opel Tigra or Mazda MX3.

Love the way this looks.

I had the base model...❤️ simple, perfect and no repairs, ever.

My ex GF had a Storm that I drove quite a bit. It had great acceleration and handling, like a go-kart.

i've never even heard of this car , and i been looking up car info's for 20 years straight , i really like the way the thing looks from the front , side and rear , eh

I had a 92 stock storm for a short while it has some bells and whistles with the turning axles what do u expect for $700 in 2005 I bought back then

I bought a new black gsi automatic in 1990. I loved that car.

I really liked the "wagonback" version of the Storm, which wasn't available in GSi trim for some stupid reason. The Geo brand actually had some pretty interesting cars in its early days. As an Isuzu, you could also get this same car with AWD and a sweet turbocharged 1.6l twin-cam. Did you guys ever test one of those?

Mine GSI is yellow, but not stock, more going toward orange, more sporty look and with 5 spoke black rims. Only 2 of GSI models are here in Serbia (Europe). Very fun car and easy to park in city crowded conditions.

The extra plug-in for Car Vacs and Radar Detectors i about died laughing

i love old cars names..."geo storm!!!" sounds so good. today its all about numbers and codes and to show us that the is green.. with "eco" names

These things are absolutely awesome. Been after one for a long time but it’s hard to find any nowadays

They were a decent little car. Friend had the base model in 91.

My sister had one of these back when. I thought they were a good compromise. I liked em.

Super informative. Thanks

1.6 litre pushing 125hp? Damn, that's not bad at all for 1990

91 GSI flipped by my brother. Wouldn't start, removed plugs, turned over and spit oil out, then replaced and started. Roof smashed and rear end broke. I went back to college and junked it. Way too bad. Car was the best. 2001 and people would ask me if it was new.

These were cool as hell back in the day.

My friend's older sister had one back then and we thought it was fast. Sporty little car.

I had forgotten that Geo actually had some decent vehicles. My sister had one of these and my mom and several of my friends had Trackers.

A lot of high school and college students drove those back in the day

I can remember a guy I used to work with that had one of these. He was a substantial guy, about 400 lbs if you could get him dry. When I met him it had over 300 000 kms on it. He had just traveled with his equally proportioned girlfriend from Calgary to Toronto. Thing ran like a top.

I had a 1993 GSI. Loved it

My sister had one new. That airbag was rare for the class and saved her life.

Have had 2 of these, loved them! I'd love to have a nice example

I used to drive one of these back in the day (hand me down). They weren't too bad. Seating position was pretty low and sporty.

Hits, include the lack of the term "oriental" used throughout. Misses, include the continuing parade of 30-something, white, sunglasses wearing serial killers testing the vehicles.

Nice that they are posting all these old reviews. These were the cars of my youth as sad as that is.

Drove one of these in highschool in the late 90s. Managed to get 185k miles out of it.

Id LOVE to see the review of the newer style Geo Storm GSI, with the redesigned headlights and 1.8L engine with 140hp.....and the base model too...though it kinda got one in that small car comparison..why not? lol.

always wanted one of these in the GSI I seen two different people bring these to the street races about 10 years ago out here near Seattle one of them had an Integra GSR dual overhead cam VTEC motor and the other one had a mid-2000s Honda K20 engine both of which made made over 200 horsepower with just some simple bolt ons and a tune was damn fast in that little chassis I've been a Honda guy through and through I built 15 of them have a 95 Civic EX coupe that's a fully built track car nothing but two seats at a roll cage I also own a very rare 04 V6 6-speed Honda Accord coupe with the hfp Honda factory performance package comes with a front lip rear lip side skirt spoiler bigger better Wheels better brakes leather heated seats strut bar sway bars lowers suspension etc that's my daily driver with full bolt ons making over 300 horsepower naturally aspirated keeps up with quite a few v8s But I would love to own one of these gsi whether it's the $130 horsepower dual cam motor or the 92 or 93 1.8 140 horsepower dual cam motor or even to throw a 90s Honda motor in it like the guy that I seen at the street races I think it would be one hell of a sleeper that nobody would see coming

How was the GSI faster to 60 than the Impulse XS AND RS?

Did he say healthy 102 pound feet of torque?

When I 1st saw the Geo storm at that was a smaller version of a Camaro on crack but it wasn't with the front end.

did they ever review the Geo Metro?

The storm was a little gem back in the days.