I am "Partially" in the same boat as you. I've been looking between an EVO 8 and an EVO X.

Back in 2013 I sold the love of my life for pennys on the dollar. 2003 Mitsubishi Evolution 8. I regret that decision to this date.
Back then tuners werent as good as they are now a days but I only made 450hp 350tq. I would like the performance to be equal to greater than my evo 8. My mods to the best of my knowlege were:

1. Precision Gt35r turbo charger
2. Full race turbo manifold
3. HKS 280 cams
4. snow performance stage 2 methanol injection
5. 255l walbro fuel pump (i dont remember injrecters but they werent much.. like 770 or something iirc)
6.Unknown downpipe and test pipe
7. Greddy 3 inch exhaust
8. RPS twin disk carbon/carbon clutch
tuned by tuning tech in colton california.

with that said.. I would like equivalent to greater performance. I'm a little older so the evo x does appeal to me.. but the 8 just felt so real... so raw... so alive.... i cant explain it.... i feel like i was limited by my fuel but i was doing 60 foot passes at 1.6 all day.

I pieced my kit together because back then i was poor and not making nearly the money i am making now. It was also my daily driver so it would break all the time causing me more headaches and i wasn't as adept to fixing things myself back then as i am now.

My daily driver now is a completely stock 1998 honda civic, my decently fun car is a 2008 infiniti g37s (fbo), and my weekend fun vheicle is a 2007 jeep wrangler unlimited (35 inch mt's, 4 inch rock krawler lift, fox shocks, full armor etc etc). So im not looking for a daily driver or any level of reliability (I understand things break).

I've really been looking at UPP (Under pressure performance) evo 8 turbo kit. its 2499.99. comes with upp-6182r ball bearing turbo (600whp capable), upp tubular manifold, 3 inch downpipe, 40mm turbosmart wastegate, an intake, oil restrictor/drain flanges, stainless steel braided oil feed/return line with an fittings/ it doesnt mention anything about fueling but I am planning on running e85. With this setup, exhaust, hks 280 cams (cuz i loved them), a turbo back exhaust, would i be able to make 500-550whp? thats the question. if so that is what I would be looking at getting right off the bat (i have the money for all the upgrades now). at 18 psi with unk mods they show 544.2hp @7200rpm with tq being 452.9 at 5850..

The evo x kit is 200 dollars more with pretty much the same stuff and dyno'd at 432.5hp at 7k and 332.6tq at 6750. if were looking at numbers obviously the 8 is hitting the numbers im wanting. the x almost gets to the speed of my old 8 with being heavier.

Is this a good route to take?I have the money now for all the parts im just looking for the right evo to add to my fleet. all opinions accepted. To be honest i "only" looked at UPP because when i was looking to get a corvette i was going to go with their turbo kit. I'm up to looking at different kits and prices...

Also.. I i'll be looking for someone to tune it. im sure i can find the tuning info by doing a search so you dont have to answer that.

 

I've been out of the game for a while. im sure there are other parts i've forgotten.. like my fmic (which was an ebay special lol)..

 

OP stop trying to pick a platform based off a dyno number goal. Dyno numbers mean little because each dyno is different. 400 wheel on one dyno could easily be low 300s on another. Pick the car that speaks to you.

For the vast majority of people, going fast in a straight line gets old quickly. I know because I chased HP for a long time. Ask yourself, is 500, 600, or 800hp worth if it the car is a pain in the *** to drive? Is having a super cool number to tell your friends about worth it if the clutch chatters and is unbearable heavy? Is it worth it if the fuel pump whines and is always audible from inside the cabin? Is it worth it if the idle is terrible and if the car can't be driven 70% of the time because something is always broken? Is it worth it if the car only make s800 wheel from 6500-8000 RPM but makes 250 wheel under 6500 RPM?

If you're asking questions like "how much will 800hp cost me" then you're not ready for it. Get what you think looks good, throw some bolt ons at it and drive it for a while. If you want more, then start adding parts. It's important to gradually mod the car so you can see what drivability sacrifices you're willing to make and which are unbearable.