Just to inject a real-life example on how one of the larger flight school chains staring with a "C" and ending with "air" actually handled my transition to a Turbo Saratoga (PA32R-301T, 300HP 6-seater).
My experience: At that time, I had >100 hours on VP retractables (mostly Mooney M20J and PA28 Arrow), but not very recent due to lack of availability in the UK, as well as 10+ hours on a "Cherokee Six" a few years prior, essentially a fixed-gear, normally aspirated Saratoga. TT was maybe 200 or so, but recent flying experience was quite low.
History with the school: I had just started flying in the UK after moving from Germany, so I had converted my German ICAO licence into a JAR licence with that school, which involved not more than a practice flight and a skill test with their CFI, so they knew me, but I did not have a long "track record" with them.
"Differences" training sign-off: VP and retractable "grandfathered" from pre-JAR times, but no turbocharger yet.
The "paper" conditions for flying the Saratoga were ridiculous - 10 or 15 hours on type for solo, IIRC. After going over my logbook with the CFI, we just went flying on a typical familiarisation / checkout profile which I would consider good practice for any new type (discussion of the "less usual" systems, extensive briefing in the aeroplane, take-off into the local area, speed and configuration changes, steep turns, stalls, PFL, emergency gear extension) and then into the circuit for a few touch-and-goes. All went fine except for me being too hesitant in applying full power (fear of overboosting), so we agreed a second sortie, this time only in the circuit, when we also dealt with the short-field take-off peculiarities of that particular aeroplane (gear auro-extension override...). Total time maybe 1.5 hours or so.
After the debriefing, the CFI signed me off for flying that aircraft and signed off all JAR differences (VP, retractable, turbocharger) in one go - "Grandfathering or not, this will avoid any discussion later". He was quite happy to accept prior experience on similar types.
In a nutshell:
- Any suitable prior experience did count towards (school, not JAR) hours requirements - can't imagine that being different anywhere else
- The checkride and training was exactly what was needed and tailored to my needs - would not have done anything less. Someone with turbo experience would have done it in an even shorter time, no doubt.
- Wether JAR requires you to do so or not, just have all differences signed off anyway after the check flight.
So I would just go with my logbook (adding up relevant hours on type in advance) and get it done.
The requirement for 6-monthly (or whatever) checkrides, circuit checks if not flown for a month or so are a different matter
Cobalt