Are you reading this off of VCDS? I assume you actually mean 1.4 bar which is about 20 PSI.
Yes, this is with VCDS and I am at ~5000ft with my ECU atmospheric pressure at about .86, so subtract .86 instead of 1, so the boost is about at 22.5 PSI when the car starts to pull hard. Over this and I see lots of timing being pulled.
Car seems to hit all of the pressures, just at a different rate with full throttle vs 3/4 throttle. The difference is that with 3/4 throttle, the boost builds slower than full throttle. This is off of a NewSouth mechanical boost gauge.
I do agree based on my logs that pedal position controls the rate at which boost is applied but I am not sure at what partial position will give the same boost levels as WOT. It may well be that 3/4 pedal is the same as WOT, is this what you are saying?
I haven't come to any real conclusion yet, but my initial thought is that we mustn't confuse acceleration and rate of acceleration. What I mean is that the rate at which the car is accelerating increases as torque builds and torque increases with increase in boost. The other thing to keep in mind is to keep shift points the same when doing this because torque starts dropping off after about ~5k RPM on a stock engine (according to dynos that I've looked up for stock engine).
I agree that a higher boost level has the potential to create more torque, but without being able to maintain maximum timing and the leanest AFR possible, that extra boost may not gain anything.
I am not sure I understand where you are coming from with the shift points. Yes, torque falls off at higher RPM on this engine, and when you shift you momentarily loose all torque and some boost (I have 6MT), but what does this have to do with several of us getting pulled timing at various boost levels when we are not shifting?
What I was trying to convey in my earlier post was that when I floor it, my boost peaks to 2.8 bar absolute and excessive timing is pulled, as soon as my pressure drops to about 2.4 bar absolute (22.5 PSI actual) the timing starts to advance and the car starts to rapidly increase rate of acceleration. So what I am thinking is that at least for me, and maybe some others (maybe those with 6MT and with lots of timing pulled when we first floor the car in any gear at any RPM, and for those that do not pull mostly positive timing of at least 5 degrees advance throughout most of the RPM band), that we need our max boost peak limited more to keep timing retard minimum when we first floor it so that we can start to pull more positive timing earlier in the RPM ramp. I hope that made sense.