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(e.d. This is a well-considered weigh-in on the beauty of boost. I experienced this in heavy doses last night. Kurt Nelson is a top-notch ski-racing coach who knows more than me about horizontal and vertical speed. Pictured: The terror of all turbos—the Porsche 935.)

“There is no replacement for displacement” — that hackneyed old saying that those who love the big Detroit iron like to chant when the subject of turbocharging comes into the conversation. Sure — as Chris spoke about a while back with regard to thrust — a tuned V8 will give you prodigious thrust, but what really gives you a kick in the ass is boost. Mash the throttle in the mid RPM range, wait just a second for the turbo to spool, and hold on. Now, that is driving. Power is not linear, like in a normally aspirated engine; it spikes with a kick that leaves most cars in the dust, wondering how that sedan just did what it did.

Above: Pike's Peak SAAB Turbo. K's ride shares the same genes.

With the dense cold air that has invaded us during the past couple of days, the turbo really shines. More air in means more air out, and that is what boost is all about: air flow. Cold air is much more dense than warm, which is why getting on the go peddle in the cold is so much more fun in winter — if only my snow tires would grip more. Open the air intake, increase the size of the exhaust, and you have an immediate increase in drivability. The turbo spools much more quickly, and the intercooler does not soak as much heat with repeated bursts of boost. Just today, for example, with the ambient temperature of about 0, I was able to get the tires to break loose in four gears, spinning madly in the first two, and chirping with three and four. Full boost in three and four is about 21 lbs, at 4000 rpm, tapering to a sustained 17 lbs up to redline, and that translates to about 120 mph. Try as I may, I just do not have the oomph to get them loose in fifth, but the Saab pulls hard until 150 mph, so that’s cool.

So, next time you are thinking that you need a bunch of cylinders to give you the power you think you need, guess again. My little 2.3l gives me 130hp per liter. Try to find a normally aspirated engine that gives that type of output. As Chris can attest, from a little test drive last night, turbo charging rocks.