Turbos Give You Wings
The Trans AM used in Knight Rider was a turbo-powered model instead of using a V8, which was more popular at the time. Because the turbo was still new when Knight Rider came on the air, the Trans Am was one of the first vehicles to popularize it. There were many stunts and jumps that KITT did in Knight Rider that wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for the turbo (via Screen Rant).
The turbo boost button was shown prominently on the TV show but it wasn’t functional at all. Nevertheless, special effects like these kept the show interesting and added a pretty unique aspect to it. KITT was a car that changed the way that people thought about the Trans AM and all of these special effects made a difference.