Fast corolla wagon- possible swaps?

I am not sure where this goes but I just did a 120km trip and for some of the way I was following a toyota fielder (JDM import corolla wagon). It just looked like an average crappy wagon from the outside except it had the plate "fastgt" so I assume they had done something with it.

Anyway it was pretty fast, much more so than the 1.8 NA it came with could ever do. Does anyone know of any common easy engine swaps it might have had? I couldn't hear anything spooling/bov but I guess it was probably meant to be a sleeper anyway so that doesn't mean it didn't have a hair dryer. Any thoughts?

coulda had a blacktop 20valve engine
3 of my highschool buddies had em in their 1990 corollas...
i had a 1990 5 speed AT 3sgte camry
we had a sleeper crew

all of theres are still running now
ive gone through 2 3sgte camrys as of last friday

93-96 corolla wagons USDM should go with a 4age silver/black top easily.

unless boost?

I don't have any experience with the smaller NA engines, I would have no idea how much power they can make but I would say that even if this was a 2L it would have had to have some boost or be pretty well worked over. I doubt those wagons are that light.

people do swap in 3sgtes. It's alot more common overseas then it is in the US. I'm surprised you haven't seen or heard of them in your neck of the woods.

Yeah I actually don't know of anyone who plays around with those series of cars/engines. More supra's, mr2's, gt4's, ford typhoon's that sort of stuff. I might ask on the new zealand toyspeed forum.