ive got a 1.8 in mine running a cam upgrade and it runs pretty well,
and by pretty well i mean it can get up n boogie when it needs to - but theres always room to improve (still running standard carb which means flooring the car is still like watching old people shag).
ive heard that this setup goes well with twin 40s - so thats what ive got on order. week or two time ill be able to let you know how that goes.

but as for beating commos - stick with the stocko 1.6 haha