I'm sure its somewhere, but I can't really find anything on the effects of having no backpressure on an ea82 turbo engine

 

My front cat on my 87 GL Turbo recently fell off, so I put a small section of pipe on it to keep exhaust off the CV axle. It seems to be running smoother and a little more powerful, but I keep thinking it could damage something internally driving it like that.

 

Anyone have first hand experience with this?? Haha

i used to run my ea82t with about 2' of exhaust off the turbo. sounded mean and more power.

 

the turbo creates quite a bit of back pressure on its own.

its more a problem of running without any exhaust or extremely short exhaust that might let some atmospheric air in from the exhaust side.  the oxygen can cause burned valves.  considering how long the manifold is on these i doubt it will be much of a problem.  

 

the larger problem in your case would be letting exhaust into the cabin if its exiting that far forward.  Id at least send back and out in front of the rear wheels just to keep the fumes away from people.  At the very least make sure your covers under the center console are 100% sealed to keep the fumes out.

 

some of the smaller problems are that your car will pass through some raw fuel and with that short of exhaust I think you may be risking some fire potential.  not a high chance that I have ever heard of, but heat + fuel + air is all it takes.

 

another secondary concern is rust.  Ive seen a ton of bumpers are rusty around the tail pipe so I doubt it will be good for the underside of your car.

Not an issue with a turbo......the turbo is the backpressure......after that you want as little restriction as possible.