I have actually very similar goals to you. In order to reach 250whp I did the math and this is what I came up with.
cold air
uel headers
op
catted front
catback exhaust
wheels, tires, breaks, clutch, flywheel and ditch weight
I don't want to get into an argument with the engineers in this thread, but...
So if you drop about 200 lbs, run OFT with e85 tune and everything else I mentioned your clone is going to get pretty damn near 250whp
HOWEVER, it is going to cost you six grand to get there. (- labor)
This is basically my route, plus a good set of brakes. The goal eventually is a SC, possibly electric, but I want to take this route first for a couple reasons, mostly revolved around me learning how cars work. That is why everything behind the header is going to be 3". The total price I mention in this post is for 2.5" pipes. When you upgrade to FI the header and the cold air intake (CAI) have to go, but everything else can stay, so might as well plan ahead, even if it is a couple years down the road.
Oh I almsot forgot. everything from cold air to catback + OFT will cost you just under $3k for the parts. Labor is another story tho... Anyway, those parts and an e85 tune should get you to your "acceptable" 230whp. Just for reference, the bone stock FRS runs approximately 161whp so that's roughly a 40% increase in whp. I hope that is still "acceptable" for you.
