A chipped IS engine is OK hp..
I like the durability.. You always hear about these engines going 300k. So a 150k car is cheap.. and you can easily covert it for a track or auto X car. with the Spec e30 class there are even good guidelines on how to set up a car.

If you dont do a ETA IS engine combo or put in a thick head gasket. You really dont run much boost any way . So the cheap kits are OK.. But I agree that you get what you pay for.

I just pulled apart a turboed m20 I am guessing they were running 15lbs plus boost.. All the crank bearing surfaces were badly worn. And 4 of the connecting rods bent. So even with forged rods I dont think the engine has a large enough bearing surface to handle a great deal of boost.
Example the 80's Vovlos use a engine derived from the truck engine, So the bearing surfaces are over engineered. This they can handle the load a turbo puts on the bottom end.

B