There’s one thing we love about the Europeans: they know exactly how to slap a large motor in a small car - such is the case with the latest Chevy Spark we just laid eyes on. Apparently some guys at Chevrolet’s office in Europe thought that it’d be a good idea to transplant the new LUJ 1.4L Turbo motor into the upcoming B-segment hopeful, the Chevy Spark, and send it out for WTCC pace car duty. All we know is that we’d like to meet the man that thought of this idea and buy him a drink.

The LUJ puts out an incredible 140hp out of its miniscule 1.4L displacement – that’s less space than that bottle of Mountain Dew you pounded last night. That’s not N/A of course and comes via the help of the snail integrated into the header of the ECOtec four. And keep this in mind; the LUJ has an iron block… That means it’ll eat boost up better than your Uncle at the Sizzler buffet. For that reason, we can’t wait to see what Tuners do with this motor when it finally makes its way over to the States this fall underhood of the Chevy Cruze (WTCC-version Cruze shown in the background of the image above).

Fun fact: the Spark only tips the scales at 1,905lbs. Do the math on that and let us know how easy it will be to clean house at your local test-and-tune on Friday night in a LUJ-powered Chevy Spark. For now though we’re forced to live vicariously through the WTCC pace car iteration of the turbo Chevy Spark and hope that it comes as an option on the US Spark order form.

Would you be down to roll out in a Spark Turbo? What would you be willing to spend on such an automobile should it be parked at your local dealer? Let us know in the comments below!

 

It looks like the Cruze is getting more and more attention these days as it makes its way across the pond to US showrooms later this year. The latest highlight we caught wind of is exactly the kind of attention we like to see for the next Chevy Tuner car with it being announced that the Cruze would be receiving its own racing series dubbed the “Cruze Cup”.

 
 

The Cruze is almost here and it’s only a matter of time for the buzz to really start to take off. This video is a great example of how the Cruze WTCC car makes its way to the top of podium after podium after podium. The WTCC-version of the Cruze also shows off some cool performance mods that we hope *crosses fingers* make it over to the U.S. production version – namely the sick Chevy bowtie-camo wrap job. Check out the full video after the jump.

The Chevy Cruze is a proven performer in the WTCC (World Touring Car Championship) series and has captured the hearts and minds of Sport Compact lovers already. We're excited to see what the Cruze has in store for us here in the states so our eyes are always open for anything Cruze we can find - which brings us to our Friday video.