Do you realize that the Cobra platform was already well developed back then? Porting the stock blower made great power, and most of the Cobra were in the 10's easily - all the way back then. You didn't see the Evo's in the 10's on a regular basis, and you don't even see a lot of them in the 10's now. If you change the blower on the Cobra, or switch it to turbo, you can go much, much faster.
I can post videos all day also. Here is an 8 second street legal Terminator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GczOoZHKZ6U
It takes a Buschur or AMS race car to do an 8 second Evo 8.
Now, here is a question. Since you have all of them fast Evo's, where are they when there are big money races? I never see them at any Outlaw events. Is a $10K race not enough money for them to come out? Can they be built to run 4.4@187 like a Mustang - in the 1/8th? This is a local guy 9and no, nothing is stock - nothing).
SGMP Lights Out ll Redemption Drag Radial DVD Highlights - YouTube
Don't get me wrong though. Evo 8's (or any other car) that goes that quick is very fast. It's just easier to build a car to go fast that has a huge amount of support and parts available on the cheap. It's also easier to start out with more displacement.