Jobee:
Welcome to the club! As I'm sure you've already figured out, our cars are a lot of fun... but it's always nice to add a little extra umph.
The quickest, simplest route to extra power is a simple three step process:
1) Cold Air Intake (about $500 up to $1,000)
2) Pulley (about $500 up to $1,000)
3) ECU tune ($500)
Keep in mind, those prices are approximate. You might find a group buy, a sale, a home-made intake, or a used part that is a much better deal. But for less than $2,000 you're looking at strapping on 40 or more rear wheel horsepower.
Don't forget to throw in some colder spark plugs while you're at it. Do the ECU tune last, and it is HIGHLY recommended that you do a custom tune on a dyno. It will cost you for the dyno time, but your tune will be much better than a canned tune.
Those three mods are kinda the limit for "cheap" power. You might want to call it Stage 1.
Stage 2 is more complicated, and there is no general consensus on what steps to take. Here's where I went:
1) Intake Manifolds ($1,400)
2) Phenolic Spacers ($100)
3) Polished/Coated Y-pipe ($225)
4) Oversized Heat Exchanger ($450)
5) Separate Engine Coolant from Intercooler Coolant ($65)
6) Good O2 Sensor and monitoring equipment (I can't remember how much - maybe $600)
Mine dyno'd at 353 whp and 353 tq. I need to do some work on sealing up my intake manis and get re-tuned. I should be able to squeak a couple more ponies out of it that way.
There are also other directions to go. Some have gone with NO2 or meth injection. Others have worked on the exhaust. In my opinion, the exhaust mods have always been very expensive compared to the performance they provide.
The BIGGEST advice I can give you is to call Rob @ NeedsWings. (
Performance auto parts & aftermarket auto accessories for your car, specializing SRT4, Crossfire SRT6, SLK32, C32 AMG, VR-4) He's a great guy and won't steer you wrong. He's also one of the few suppliers left standing in the SRT-6 mod market.