Chevrolet Matiz by FAS

The Daewoo-made Chevrolet Matiz doesn’t usually get much attention on TopSpeed. It’s 0.8-liter three cylinder engine is nice for an economy car, but we’ll still take the Corvette instead. But that may change with the introduction of this Matiz touched up by Yves Fourdin, founder of Fourdin Auto Sport (FAS), and a few of his enthusiasts (not engineer) friends.

They left the computer at home and put in about 1,500 hours of good ’ol fashion wrench time. FAS grabbed a 505 hp 7.0-liter V8 directly out of a Corvette Z06 to produce this little asphalt-kicking machine.

A factory-fresh Matiz can make the 0-100km/h (0-62mph) in 17.6 seconds the FAS version will do it in about 3.7 seconds, and can go from 0-200km/h in 10.94 seconds. The top speed has been increased significantly as well, from 144km/h (89 mph) in the factory version to 260km/h (163mph) in the hot-rodded Matiz.

The Matiz was completed in 2008 and is currently being showcased in Belgium at the International Racing Show Liège. We didn’t get fuel economy figures, but we’re pretty sure it is slightly down from the original car’s 89 mpg.

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New Hyuandai Tucson Revealed

This is the Hyundai HED-6 SUV concept, revealed by Hyundai ahead of the car’s official unveiling at the Geneva motor show on 3 March and likely to spawn the replacement for the Hyundai Tucson small SUV.

That next Tucson, set to be called the Hyundai ix35, is expected to make its debut in production form at the Frankfurt motor show in September. It will go on sale in the UK in spring 2010.

The Hyundai ix35 will also be the first Hyundai to receive the Korean firm's new range of petrol and diesel engines.

Petrol-powered Hyundai ix35s will get a range of downsized turbocharged direct-injection petrol engines, including the 1.6-litre 173bhp turbo petrol that powers the Hyundai HED-6 concept.

The range-topping Hyundai ix35 diesel will be fitted with Hyundai’s brand new R-engine performance diesel, although probably only in 2.0-litre form rather than the more powerful 2.2. Even so, the 2.0-litre common-rail unit is still good for 181bhp and 289lb ft of torque.

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