The hotairs respond to mods like the IC cars you just start out slower.
Dad's car: (low mileage)Adjustable FP regulator, 20psi boost on 92 octane with a small amount of Xylene, KB street chip, K&N, through full exhaust went 14.0@100mph.
My car: Only mods was 13psi boost, K&N,
and a FM intercooler went 13.9@ 101mph very low boost.
If you're only looking for 12s then it's an easy choice. Stay with the hotair. If you want to go faster it's a tossup. There are memebers on this board that go 11s with no intercooler with production heads and intake. With the hotairs the turbo is pretty much maxed out at the upper 12 second range. The downpipe has to be upgraded sooner because it necks down to 1" in places, and the obvious, it lacks an intercooler. All three of which you would most likely upgrade on an IC car anyway to go faster than 11.99.
I do think the IC cars are a much more efficient layout. Turbo sits right on the header and it's just plain less cluttered looking. I've had people ask me why in the hell I put the turbo on top of the motor because with the intercooler it looks kind of out of place. There's a lot more support and proven combos for the IC cars but the hotairs are getting there.