would it definatly be smoking if it was?or could it be knackered without any smoke?

 

It depends if its the bearings/oil seals or blade contact?If the seals have gone it will smoke.if the bearings have gone the seals will follow.see if its boosting and what boost your getting.

 

cheers its a friends car but apparently it aint really boosting, would it still be drivable 2 get it home?

 

it might not be the turbo if its not boosting it could be your actuator, or just a hole in a pipe somewhere, the best thing to do is have a look at the fan in the turbo and check to see if theres any play in it, if thats fine the undo the actuator and see if you can move the rod in the actuator easily if thats fine then all you have to do is look for a leaky pipe ether the 2inch boost pipe or the blue pipe coming of the atuator hope this helps