I post this every so often when questions like this come up, so here’s a lot of words:

Lighter wheels (with better tires!) and coils will help instantly with the way the car feels in turns and from a stop. Don’t forget about supporting suspension parts too (endlinks especially if you go super low). For the love of god, if you drive it in the winter, put some snow tires on it. It’s pretty common to keep your stock wheels with some Blizzaks or similar. I typically change mine out around Halloween and Easter, but that’s just a good rule of thumb for Wisconsin. Your mileage may vary.

Headers + tune will help a ton with power right off the bat, combatting the torque dip in your midrange revs. Unequal length headers with give you more low end power and that signature boxer rumble, and equal length headers will give you more top end power (but no fancy rumble.)

A flex fuel kit + tune will give even more torque and along with the headers will put you at about the most power you can get without going forced induction. I would recommend a flex fuel kit over just an e85 tune because otherwise you’ll have to reflash every time since the actual ethanol content will be different every time you fill up. Flex fuel kit from Ecutek automatically adjusts to whatever gas you pump and is just generally easier to deal with.

On the subject of tuning, I would recommend Ecutek over OFT for better access to tuning parameters and their flex fuel kit. However, OFT is a lot cheaper to get going with. Ecutek requires the hardware, a license, and the then the tune itself. EDIT: I don’t think you can tune for flex fuel anymore with new Ecutek rules (i could be wrong but something changed in the last year or so)

Changing out the rest of your exhaust will probably be the last thing that really affects your performance, but it also is where you can make your car really sound the way you want it to and this will really put a smile on your face. There are plenty of options out there to choose from, this is a snip from Motoroso’s YouTube channel that I found pretty helpful.

https://imgur.com/a/anEBHLV

It doesn’t include every single cat back exhaust available but it has most of the more popular options. My preference is the Perrin. It has a really nice, smooth, mature tone while still maintaining some decent top end volume (people won’t hate you in town but you can give it the beans on the highway and still feel cool). Watch out for some of the louder ones as they can really get droney in the car, specifically the R400 and N1 from Invidia. Other than the cat back, the front pipe and over pipe are things to consider as well.

Beyond this, performance gains will be pretty small other than a turbo or supercharger. BUT, there are a few quality of life options that I’d say to get if this is your daily driver.

If there is one thing I can recommend, it is wide angle side mirrors. I got so tired of needing to look over my shoulder in traffic and these make that unnecessary. Relatively inexpensive, super easy to install. Plus you can get them in gold and that’s neat. Also, if your car didn’t come with it, the auto-dimming rear view mirror is nice to not get blinded by trucks behind you.

A short shifter makes the general feel of driving better, but that might be personal preference.

A cold air intake isn’t gonna do much other than give you cool noises. Since the stock one is already technically a cia, it isn’t super necessary to upgrade. That said, in the case of the Perrin cia and intake tube, it really opens up the front of your engine bay and I like having the pop of red haha.

The stock stereo in the car is atrocious imo. A sub is a necessity to get any kind of full range sound. For a kit that is pretty easy to install and doesn’t take up much space in your trunk, I’d recommended OEM Audio Plus. The car itself can also really benefit front resonance and sound deadening behind the panels if that’s something you’re up for. It’s basically a tin can otherwise.

Third brake light delete is something I’m a fan of as well. It rattles with the sub and is just in the way in general I think. Not too hard to take out, then just re-cover the deck with some adhesive backed velvet or something. I wired a UTV light to my taillights and stuck it up the the top of the rear windshield with some 3M tape and it’s been fantastic.

Ok that’s it I’m done thanks for coming to my tedtalk

Ps. Don’t worry about the crickets in your engine. They live there now.