from what epople have said 1.4s arent that slow? it's still running on 13s (cause I'm lazy) so I'm not losing any through my wheels being huge or anything... for all I know the 318 could have been used as a shed for years and the eninge could be utterly pooed, same with the 820, the guy didnt look like the kind to maintain his car at all.
I may scamper up to the next bristol meet if anyone wants to have a peek at my engine, see if they can tell me any more.