[s-cars] Turbo 101 question...

[Pollock, Thomas]

Afternoon, fellow s-heads...

All the recent A/C discussions have prompted me to ask this question which I've always wondered about. In it's simplest form, why don't I see full boost in first gear ?  I guess the extreme would be, why can't I generate ANY boost when sitting idle and just revving ?
I understand the motor is a big air pump and I assumed that if there was NO restriction to the air leaving the motor, then I would probably never be able to see enough boost to compensate. In other words, something needs to prevent air from leaving the motor ?

The reason I'm finally getting around to asking this is twofold. First, now that I have a boost gauge, I actually think I see more early boost with the A/C on. Could all the recent talk about the 5hp loss from running the A/C actually help make boost in the low rpm range?  Hmmmm.  Second, I'm starting to think about exhaust systems for my car and my theory about restrictions being the cause of the turbo being able to spool up falls apart when I hear of these low backpressure systems.  Oh and add the fact that I've heard plenty of talk about how these lightened alum flywheels allow faster spoolup ?   OR am I just completely lacking any resemblance of technical knowledge ?

thanks in advance,

> Tom Pollock
> Compaq Computer Corporation
> AlphaServer Product Development
> *Tel (508)467-4441
> * thomas.pollock at compaq.com
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