So I'm looking to drop about 3-4k into my S. It's bone stock atm. I'd like to get wheels/tires, however, performance is first. I was looking into an HKS High Power Exhaust and an AEM V2 Intake, but that only puts me at like $1200. I've also been told that I should turbo it, but don't think I could get a Turbo Kit and everything that goes along with it, and get it tuned for what I have to spend.

I'm just looking for any suggestions or your opinions on what I should do/get. What would be the best bang for the buck if you will. Let me know what ya'll think.

Looking forward to your responses,
Kaleb.

 

the hks high power is supposed to sound great but lose power. gains from exhaust and intake are minimal in any case though, and are more of a sound good mod. i have a fujita CAI and an Invidia exhaust and im getting 208 WHP.

there are tons of exhaust (and everything else) options and the choice will have to be made by you. i personally have no plans to ever turbo my S, but thats just me.

if i had 3.5k +/- that i wanted to drop on a stock S i would probably do:
intake - 250
exhaust - 800+/-
coilovers - 1900 (kwv3)
or 1100 for buddyclub which i am very happy with
tires - 700
you could probably even get a set of Enkei RPF1s if you went with the BC coils. but i would probably use that money for track time and not get wheels so i knew how to drive the car.

 

Forced induction is going to be more than 3-4k after all is said and done. Heres my personal list of best bang for the buck N/A mods.

New diff gear (your choice of ratio)
Header (plm is a good one at a great price)
70mm+ exhaust w/ test pipe (your choice)
Intake (either CAI, K&N FIPK, or one w/ a snorkel)
BC Stage 2 cams
Engine management (either standalone or Flashpro if DBW)
Lightweight wheels (my favs are RPF1's and TE37's)

Optional if have money left over

Larger bore throttle body
Upgraded springs and retainers
Lightweight accessory pulleys

Of you can say screw it to all of that and get some sick NAWZ

 

You won't lose power with the HKS, that's a myth. With that said it is still a 60mm exhaust and isn't going to gain hardly anything.

If your serious about performance, don't bother with NA mods. They will cost you a fortune and you won't get very far. A new turbo or supercharger set-up with a good tune will run you around $7k in the end so that is way out of your budget. I would either try to find a used supercharger on here, you can find them for $2500 here on the forum sometimes. Or I would do a nitrous setup. I was going to do this and nitrous is very safe if you take the right precautions. You can run up to a 75 shot on the stock ECU and clutch and will last a while. If you want to do anything more than that you will need direct port, an EMS, and a upgraded clutch. So I would stick with the 75 shot or a little less to be on the safe side. If serious about this I would look into a window switch (activates nitrous at certain RPMs..i.e. turns on at 4500 rpm and turns off at 8500 rpms) and a lean shut down switch (you can monitor your AFR's and it shuts down the nitrous system if you run to lean, that way you don't just blow anything up). I would personally use a dynotune nitrous kit since i've used one before and liked it, not to mention they are really good prices. You can get the full kit, bottle opener, warmer, window switch, lean shut down switch, and everything you need at dynotunenitrous.com. You can have a nice kit for around $1000 and make a decent amount of power, and with nitrous it will actually give you a quite a bit of torque which is a huge plus. A 10lb bottle would last me a couple months since I didn't spray to much, but it usually cost around $40 to fill a 10lb bottle. Just something to think about.

 

Personally I would find a used Comptech sc kit for around 2500. That would give $1500 extra for a wideband gauge, and a few other supporting mods. Shouldn't need a tune on a stock boost comptech kit. Stock clutch should be fine for the stock 5.5 lbs of boost that kit runs. With the 1500 extra could probably get some ID 1000cc injectors and a used 1052 aem ems and put another 300 into it and have enough for a tune.
Eventually you will still want exhaust etc but in the gains department they are pretty much a waste of money imo.

 

Alright, thanks for the responses guys. If I do go anything other than N/A it will be turbo. Preferably Greddy. I'm going to talk to some family in Las Vegas so that I can get my car registered under Nevada rather than CA. Get away from the smog nonsense. I can possibly go a little higher than 4k, How much do ya'll think a used Greddy kit and everything I need for it including an exhaust and getting it tuned would run me?

 

Used Greddy kits are pretty cheap since most ditch them pretty quickly. Probably $2500 or so. Will need to get it tuned to have any decent gains. Untuned they have been dynod as low as 250whp.
Wouldnt personally recommend them personally since they are extremely limited.
One of the stock sc setups would romp a stock bolt on greddy kit.
Would be nice added torque for around town though and make the car feel faster than the sc setups.

 

Well, I'm not trying to get too crazy with it. More or less want a DD that looks clean and is pretty quick. Eventually I want to get some TE37s and a OEM CF Hard Top. J's Diffuser. OEM Front Lip. Cosmetics wise.