jamie, just to clarify 'v8s' are not necissarily fast, i dare say a stock 5k could take on a 253 powered HZ and come out best
even the old style 350 chev motors in stock form have nothing on the gen 3 ones...
4k motor
single non overhead cam + non crossflow head + 1300cc
= very very expensive to make genuinely 'fast'
you can make them 'nippy' but short of the patented angela turbo setup they will not be 'fast'. 2nd best is to make them sound fast, it becomes more fun to drive that way!