My (old) 1989 Renault 5 GT Turbo - 1.4 Turbocharged engine - Mildly modified - 0-60 in 6.5 seconds!
If an engine setup almost 20 years old can achieve that kind of performance, then come 2008/2009, with 20 EXTRA years of research and development (+ technology) to play with, you'd have thought the engineers could work wonders with a 1400CC engine as a base.
Not a great comparison - R5 Turbo was a lot lighter in weight, hence the 0-60. Modern cars, due to safety / emissions legislation etc etc are a lot heavier.