My wife had a 1.8 litre in a 99 Mazda Mx-5 Miata that had exactly 140bhp, so it is extremely believable. As for what is possible in the racing world, there was a turbo charged 1.5 liter in the 1980s that put out nearly 1000hp...I would have to do a little digging on which car/team, but I know I have seen several F1 documentaries that highlighted it. Reportedly quite the monster to drive due to turbo lag.