Alright I got some ideas for my next mod, but I can't decide. I'm not sure whether to do something to make my car look better, or whether to do something to make the car faster. Just wanted some opinions on this.

 

IMO you should make a goal of what you want the finished car to be and work backwards from there buying peices as you go. Then you will have a better understanding on what your next mod should be.

The headlights are a DIY project and will cost you $10.00 for paint and 2 hours of your time. You should do those regardless (If you want them)

IF you go spoiler go with the ralli-art or the kamanari or something completly different. A celecia GT spoiler would look real nice too. I personally think that the Evo spoiler makes the US lancer look too tall and skinny although it looks very nice on a ralli-art or EVo.

I dont know what engine mods you have but you should have a Intake (CAI would be best) before you go with the throttle body. Then Do the Intake Manifold.

As far as the exhaust you should do it now if you want it for sound but I would wait untill you get the CAI/Throttle Body/IM before you do exhaust. then work forwards on exhaust rather then the traditional way. Do headers/Down pipe first, then a highflow cat then cat-back. This way you are optimizing all the performance mods and can insure they are going to complement each other best.

Everyone will argure this but it is the best way about doing a project car on a budget.
I personally found that when I just had CAI and Cat-back my car had more top end but I lost a lot of the bottom end. Im sure people will say "ya but it wasnt a (Insert company here) exhaust" but it really doesnt make that much difference. Manderal bent Stainless steel is all the same as long as the bends are simular and the size is the same. The muffler wont make a huge difference. One straight through is almost the same as the next. The difference is in quality, sound, lifetime of the muffler and what they used as a filler (IE steel or ceramic...BTW ceramic is better)

The way I see it is there is no point of putting on on mod that will take away from another aspect of the car. Hence why I got rid of my 17" wheels and am sticking to my OZ's untill I can afford something that is lighter then the stocks in a 17".

You mod you car to make it better not to make it worse, keep that in mind.



Hope this is what you were looking for. I try to give reason for my answer so you know why I went that rout upon assisting you rather then saying "Exhaust" or "go with the ___ body kit". When I was looking at kits I asked friends of their thoughts and the ones I listened to were the people who said "This kit because: (and then a discription of their answer)


Sorry for the long post and rant, Im just getting tired of the 1 sentance answers that have no technical help what so ever.

 

Yeah thanks a lot, a very indepth response, nice to see someone who actually backs up what their saying. I already got an intake and I got headers to be installed, so I guess throttle bodies the way to go in terms of the engine department.

 

I'd go for the suspension. The ES is so flimsy from the factory. Best bang for the buck is the progress sway bar w/ the auto-X perches. I know of what i speak, lol. best mod evar. You said you've already got intake and headers, sway bar + exhaust and you'll have a nice little car there.

plus listen to danno, he sounds like one of them smarty fellers.

 

I got the sway bar and perches awaiting install as well, here I'll list all my mods to help people with the decision.
RRM Front Strut Bar
Ralliart Grill
Kartboy Underhood Bushings, ES base bushings and Lancershop Short Shifter
RRM Short Ram Intake
and I got the sway bar, header and seats just sitting around.

 

ah, ok then, haha, one step ahead of me. out of those options i'd say go for the exhaust.

 

do you have a body-kit on your car already? If not, I don't think you should get the spoiler cause I don't think it will look right by itself. I think it'll need something to compliment it, like a lip or body kit.

I'd prolly go with performance so like auto said, I would go with the exhaust.

 

No I don't have a body kit, don't believe in them, I've seen pic of cars with evo spoilers without any kind of skirts and they look pretty good, especially when lowered.

 

ahh, well if its alright with you, I guess it's cool, but to me it just doesn't look right. to each his own.

 

Yeah I just want something to give the car a more sporty look, hence the blacked out lights, but don't feel like spending 3k$ to get a body kit that'll just be scraped and used as a snow plow in the winter.

 

Personally I'd go for the exhaust too. It all depends on your price range and what your going for, just as other people have said. From what you've said it seems like your going for the performance side more than looks. You could go with a nice performance upgrade like an exhausr system, which I'd go with before I got a bored TB, and then if you've still got a little spending money you may wanna spice up the exterior a bit, like blacked out headlights.

 

catback or piggyback, but i dunno. does it really matter which order you put parts in?

 

You'll end up with the same power in the end, but you might have a time where you only got top end or bottom end power.

 

It think that an exhaust has both an asthetic value as well as a proformance value. An exhaust looks and sounds good and adds a few HP... it also adds some power to 3rd and 4th gears. You'll feel it when getting on the highway.

Fox

 

Go with the TB for now. In the spring time PM me and I will get you a deal on a nice Cat-Back (Made in Canada Too)