Hey guys, im not too familiar with this forum, or even the evo in general, but i have worked on turbo cars for quite some time now. My friend has entrusted me to make the decisions for him to upgrade his car, we currently have done all the intake plumbing and are about to do exhaust, but when i did the intercooler piping i noticed some oil in the hotpipe and a decent amount of shaft play in the turbo. After i notified my buddy of this problem he wants to replace the turbo. Now, he has about 1200 to spend on the turbo, and I remember changing out my single ball bearing to a dual in my mazda and it made a huge difference. He isnt going for too much power and wants reliability. So I dont want to go much larger on the turbo if I dont have to but would like to know any DIRECT swaps for the evo 8. He does have a larger intercooler (mishimoto) so clearance could be a factor. Just trying to get your guys' opinions on something that will be a bolt on upgrade that wont break the bank, I know the evo 9 turbo will work as well, but wanting to know all options. Thanks guys!

 

You won't get any stock replacement dual ball-bearing for $1200. A IX turbo would be your best bet.

 

Just get a rebuilt fp green with the evo 8 install kit. That way it will make him happy in performance and reliability