The exhaust smoke you see at the front of the aircraft on start up is coming from the waste gate outlet. It's the waste gate that bipasses exhaust gas to control the amount of boost that the turbo produces.
The turbo exhaust outlet is that bump under the rear of the fuselage.
One of the give-aways that the turbo is still installed and operable is exhaust smoke coming from that rear outlet. EVen with the boost pulled way back for start up, there would still be some venting from the rear turbo exhaust ports.
Remember that turbo units for aircraft from this period are absolutely gigantic compared to the automotive turbo-superchargers that most folks these days are familiar with. The only place with enough room for it on a P-47 is in the rear fuselage, it and it's ducting take up almost all the available space back there.
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Personally speaking, the P-40 could contend on an equal footing with all the types of Messerschmitts, almost to the end of 1943.
~Nikolay Gerasimovitch Golodnikov
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