[Dave at Pelican Parts]

A simple way to bump up a 1.8's performance is with a set of headers. Real tuned headers, such as the ones Tangerine Racing sells. His aren't cheap, but they are the best and most effective ones out there. You lose all semblance of cabin heat unless you opt for his heat exchanger box, which will help defog the windshield but probably not a lot more.

Bumping the engine up to 1911cc (96mm P&Cs) would generally be less money, but more work. Compression can be set to wherever you like; something on the order of 8.5:1 should still work with premium-grade fuel.

You can combine both of those for more power.

To get real power, you'll need to crack open the case. An aggressive cam that moves the power band up in the RPMs will definitely get you more power, but you will have to ditch the stock L-jet EFI and go with something aftermarket or a set of carbs. Much more involved.

I don't have a recipe for getting to 150 HP, in part because there are so very many variables, but also because I simply haven't done the in-depth research. I suspect that a 2056 with a hot cam, headers, carbs, high compression, and very good heads would do it. But spinning the engine fast enough to make that level probably means a reduced lifespan.

Lots of trade-offs you can make...

--DD