List in order and est. Prices and places to buy. Difficulty of install etc.

This is an extremely tall order. Every possible mod with difficulty and costs. Dam.

Anyways.

2005 Sunfire, correct? that's what your profile says

1 - Up rated Struts and lowering springs - As cheap as $350 used 600ish new, up to 3k new for the really fancy coil-overs - stupid easy.
2 - Strut tower bars - cheap they did make my car feel much better - once again stupid easy
3 - Sway bars - 300ish new, much cheaper used - front is annoying, rear is easy
4 - Stupid Charger - 500 - 1.5k used - best way to make power cheap is with forced induction.

Misc supporting mods, these eat money fast but other things will make other mods work better. I'm too lazy to tell you everything possible in that sense.


I miss my Cavalier, even if it made 100 hp on a cold day and had more suspension then it deserved.

KYB makes the AGX Adjustable Shocks and struts and are pretty cheap. I run a set with stock springs and it made my care handle great when matched with a nice set of high performance all weather tires... Cold Air intake takes off about 10lbs of plastic crap under the hood and gives 5-10hp. Umm a nice set of rotors (either drilled or slotted) and some ceramic brakes really make stopping easy.

Funny, the guy asks about gaining power, and handling mods are the most common thing mentioned so far.

While I would personally focus my attention on handling before adding power to the engine, the only thing mentioned about suspension that will make the car accelerate a little (and I mean very little) faster is the lowering springs, because they reduce the weight transfer under heavy throttle. Other than that, they just make the car handle better, which, IMO, makes it more fun than a faster car with sloppy handling.

Personally, I would look at a good tune, possibly a cam change and headers/exhaust. Those will gain you the most, especially combined, and if you match your components (exhaust size to the cam profile)

Ignore any of the crap you see advertised that is supposed to gain hp by tricking the computer, like IAT sensor resistors, moving the IAT sensor, etc....They're a waste. All they do is make you burn more fuel. A good tune will make sure you are getting optimum fuel/air/spark combinations at all driving conditions, and you'll make the most power with the least amount of fuel that the engine can safely run at.

Don't run out and get a loud exhaust based on the HP gain they advetise, unless you're doing the header and/or cam. On a bone stock engine, a larger exhaust will typically lose low end torque, and only gains minimal HP at the top end of the RPM range. In other words, you won't really see more power during your driving.

JC wrote:Cold Air intake takes off about 10lbs of plastic crap under the hood and gives 5-10hp.

Ignore this unless you're building an engine that's going to need significantly more air. Our cars have cold air intakes from the factory. The "bong" doesn't significantly affect the performance of a stock engine. People think it's adding power to remove it because the engine gets louder. All it's doing is allowing you to hear the throttle noise more.