Stupid question but will a car run with turbo not working?

 

I've heard that it makes black smoke from the exhaust and smell/drive like ****. So I'm gonna say no.

 

In short YES the car will run without the turbo. Typically the turbo does requre a certain pressure to spool up and below that pressure there really is no turbo active hence the turbo lag effect. The first Porsches that came out with a single turbo like in the 930 and 964 they had a single large turbo that required a certain amount exhaust gas to spool up the turbo but when it happened it was a kick in the *** effect. The newer turbo porsches now have twin turbos that are smaller to counter this effect. On a B5 S4 I had I lost the turbos but was still able to drive the car. Agree with Mike's statement above that it does drive like SH*T and not recommended.

 

You could limp home or to a garage, but like the other two posters have said - it drives like crap.