Just curious what all you guys on a budget consider your favorite low buck mod or mod that made the biggest difference. I've been trying to come up with ideas on what to do to my Matrix on the cheap that might yield some improvements.

I've been thinking of playing with the alignment and seeing how the handling feels on stock suspension. Or taking out some unnecessary weight in the trunk area. Or maybe finding some junkyard wheels that are a bit lighter than the steelies on there now.

Anyways, so what did you do and how did it improve your car?

My favorite low dollar mod was my short throw shifter. I know some people don't like them on our cars (Sentra) but I love it. Our throw is a bit long to begin with like many cars (although some cars have a decent throw to begin with like some Hondas, etc.) so going with around an 80% reduction in throw or more made a world of difference especially combined with urethane shift linkage bushings.

It is rare to find a short throw shifter with that much reduction in throw from what I've seen. 30% or around there is the norm across all makes and models from what I've seen and I can't imagine that being enough unless the car has a shortish throw to begin with.

You'll want to make sure the throw is shortened properly of course, by moving the fulcrum point but still keeping the shift lever high in the console. No chopped levers or goofy crap here.

$75 for the shift lever and $40 in bushings went a long way for me.

I think attacking the most glaring problem with the car first is going to make the most difference. If it's used and needs brakes then a refresher there is going to be very helpful. If it's an old BMW with 4 turns lock-to-lock then swapping in a newer rack is going to turn that bus into a canyon carver. The driver control and comfort things made the most difference in the driving experience for me and they tend to be cheap. Maybe heal-toe shifting is hard in your car due to the pedal layout? I'm sure there's a cheap aftermarket fix or maybe it's time you DIY and break some ground in that area. Maybe you drive a Miata and that A-pillar is in your way all the time? A seat drop/relocation sounds like it would be the first mod on my list.

I feel that the best low buck mod you can do without spending thousands, is getting yourself a really nice set of tires. Tires are always the very first thing i do when changing things on my cars.

Yup, I agree with Bigdave.  I rememeber back in the day, going from the crap Goodyear RS-As to some Bridgestone Potenza RE730s.  I gained like 10mph of corner speed through an particular off-ramp I took everyday.  Never gone back to crap tires since!

A drop in high flow air filter is always one of my first mods when I get a car. I even put them in my wife's car, my mom's car, shop/company vehicles, etc. Naturally I always use:

COSWORTH AIR FILTERS

You should save your money wasted on filters. A clean paper filter will provide your engine with more than enough air to do its job, especially a regular everyday street car.

bigdave, some cars react quite well to drop-in's.  Like Evo 8s gain roughly 8whp with a K&N drop-in.  I did some datalogs that showed reduced pressure drop in the airbox with the K&N vs. stock.

His wife, mom, and everyone at the shop drive Evos? 

Na, the wife drives an Armada and my mom drives a G35 sedan. I dropped in a Cosworth filter in my Maxima and picked up 1.5mpg vs. a 8,000 mile Fram paper one.

Stock paper filters are ok, but are not designed for optimum flow. They are designed to filter. Purpose designed filtering medias like the media used in the Cosworth filters, actually flow superior to OEM paper while filtering almost as effectively as OEM paper. Filtering ability of bespoke filter media is also much better than cotton gauze filters.

Washed cotton gauze is a joke for flow. What happens when you wash cotton? It shrinks and so do the pore openings in the fabric.

I really love this one;
www.motoiq.com/forum/aff/16/aft/125/afv/topic.aspx
How can you go wrong when even the title says "cheap as chips"?

Posted By Robbie on 05-06-2010 01:35 PM
For FWD/AWD cars that share platforms with more performance oriented models buying used rear sway bars that are bigger certainly make a car a lot more lively. Or if you have a base model Miata, some used Bilstein shocks and springs from a Sport package Miata will certainly make a large difference for not a lot of cash. New shifter bushings or filling motor mounts on an older car often make the feel newer.

Agreed!  OEM+ rules.  Lighter wheels help.  Some times even cars can use other exhausts from higher sport cars.  Examples, Civic SI exhaust on an EX, lighter weight wheels, maybe calipers and rotors will swap easily?  There are a lot of things that become junk to someone because they are getting aftermarket goodies.

Yup, OEM +!  We should term that  

Like STI guys ditching their stock suspension and brakes.... great stuff for WRX guys!