i've only had a couple of V8's.
I had a 78 F150 4x2 long box (302/3speed auto), 71 Bronco (302/3pseed manual), 84 Capri RS 5.0L (that thing was a missile) and i've had more fun with all the four cylinders in my life. There was nothing better than this summer eating up a 5.0L Mustang and then looking over at the 4.6L GT and saying, "you aren't worth the gas to race so sit down and shut up before you get embarassed."
there is one thing, though... there is always someone faster. Always.
I remember racing a 383 Chevelle up at Napierville Quebec. I staged, he staged, I got a beautiful light (one of my best reaction times ever!) and he redlighted! Bwahahaha... this little, lowly. 2.2L OHV 98 Cavalier RS ate up a Chevelle. Of course, yes, I know, he redlighted. Our next time together, he ran a 12 something to my 16 something!
the problem with building a V8 up here isn't so much the cost of actually building the engine/transmission. It's the cost of operating it. If I'm going to build a 305/350, it will be 10:1 compression at least which means 93 octane. That's going for $3.63 a gallon here, plus now the New York state secret police have now mandated that even upstate folks have to have emissions testing down on their vehicles.
So, blown DOHC for me.
Oh, I've only owned one import. A 1980 Dodge D50 4x2 long box pickup. It was a mitsubishi with a ram on it. Other than that, the other import was an 86 Merkur XR4Ti... that was a fast little fucker too.