When does the turbo kick in?

[Frostensen]

Trying to figure this one out. I have a 1.8 160bhp Linea R from 2008. It seems that the turbo kicks in (when I feel the car starts pulling) only from 2500rpms upwards. Is that normal? When does the turbo kick in and pull the car normaly?

 

[R3k1355]

Might be a little late, boost leak or actuator problems are common causes.

 

[Frostensen]

Might be a little late, boost leak or actuator problems are common causes.

Thanks, so what would be, let's say, normal rpm's for second and third gear? In another words when would one feel the turbo starting to pull.

 

[mty12345]

Thanks, so what would be, let's say, normal rpm's for second and third gear? In another words when would one feel the turbo starting to pull.

I've never driven a car with your engine, but on a petrol car it's very rare to have any boost below 2500 rpm. I would say it sounds about right on a 160bhp car which would have a fairly small turbo. I couldn't find a dyno graph for your exact engine, but here is one from another 160bhp 1.8litre engine.

The blue dotted line is the standard torque curve, which pretty much always matches the amount of boost. As you can see it's practically zero at 2000rpm and builds sharply between 2-3,000rpm, at which point you probably have full boost until the turbo starts to run out of puff above 5000rpm