NEVER rely on the built-in boost gauge. It's just an ECU estimate of what you MIGHT be pushing. Install a mechanical gauge and verify. There are plenty of reasons why the car might not 'feel' fast. But starting with the basics (and a mechanical boost gauge is STEP ONE with these cars) and working from there is the way to go.

Also, if you just have a line going from the compressor outlet elbow to the wastegate actuator, you are not running stock boost. You're running at wastegate spring rate, which is 10psi. Stock setup incorporates an ECU-controlled restrictor that bumps boost to 12psi while the ECU isn't seeing any knock, and drops to 10 when it gets over a certain knock count.

Do you have a datalogger? Check for knock if so, but I doubt you will if you don't even have a boost gauge. Have you done a PROPER boost leak test? As in, holding the throttle body butterfly open and rotating the engine until you have no overlap, and testing the ENTIRE intake system... if you have a post-TB leak (also a vac leak, can cause shitty idle) and just do a closed-TB leak test, you can miss it.

Then again, could just be that you're used to 12psi, and the ECU is pulling boost or timing for whatever reason.. be it crap gas, a failing knock sensor (phantom knock is a BITCH on 1Gs) or even just lifter noise tripping the knock sensor.

the stock boost guage gets its reading on how much airflow is passing through the MAF sensor. If its at 7, its seeing too little airflow due to the turbo actually not pulling air through it for whatever reasons (exhaust leak, stuck actuator, leaking wastegate flapper). If your stock guage is pegged and your real guage says 7, then its a boost leak.

Ill, my stock gauge will go between 7-14 almost at random, while my mechanical stays at 10 solid. Again, the stock boost gauge CAN help diagnose a leak, but it is truly NOT reliable for *anything*.

I wouldn't go with Sunpro, but if you've got nothing else, the price is right...

Generally you can find three-packs of Autometer (an actual decent name) gauges on eBay for about $45, mix-and-match in whatever color/style you want, sometimes with a gauge holder (I'd recommend the center vent replacement bezel type, the A-pillar just looks kinda ricey on a 1G.. bought one myself before I realized).

Three best friends should be boost, water temp, and either oil pressure or temp (unless you have an automatic, at which point tranny temp jumps just behind boost gauge).

Also, building a proper boost leak tester isn't that expensive... the ones I make keep growing legs, but you can put a cheap one together for about seven bucks out of Home Depot parts, and a short length of radiator hose from your local auto parts shop.