I have been only a few months into working on my 03 cavalier ecotec 5-spd.

I am not big on appearance mods, in fact, besides the wheels and springs for handling, I dont want to change the cars appearance at all.

I do however want to continue with bolt on's for this N/A project.

So far I have done this to the car:

Eibach Pro-Kit springs
K&N Typhoon intake kit
SRT-4 wheels wrapped in Dunlop 215-45-17
B&M short shifter

I know most of you will say a Cat-back kit or custom, but I was thinking of doing that last. Fact is I like my car as quiet as it can get, so the "benefit" of an after market exhaust kit only appeals to me in the tiny bit of horse power it makes on our car, so I am a little weary of dropping the money into the exhaust at the time. I dont want to attract any attention if I dont have to.

Since this is my first car "project" what do you guys suggest next? What else can I do under the hood (externally, bolt on) to continue the slow crawl of adding horsepower and throttle response?

That's a good start. Still plenty to do as far as bolt-ons.

Engine:
*Intake
*Upgrade your throttle body to a bigger one. Search around this forum for the proper size for your car.
*Lightweight Underdrive Crank and Alternator pulleys
*Upper and lower Motor Mounts
*You can still get a performance header and not increase sound enough that it will bother you if it's on stock piping
*Spark plugs and Plug Wires

Transmission
*Fidanza lightweight flywheel
*Transmission mounts
*SPEC Stg2 or Stg3 clutch

Suspension/Handling:
*Front & Rear Strut Tower Braces (big difference when lowered)
*Upgrade struts if you haven't already, especially since you're lowered. The stock struts absolutely can't take being lowered, and will eventually blow. KYB AGX or Tokico D-Spec struts are nice.
*Sway bars (also big difference when lowered)
*Sub-frame brace

Of course there's plenty more, those are some popular ones for both performance and handling. Not to mention there's a lot you can do with internal engine work like cams & lifters, high-compression pistons & rings, port & polish the head, upgrade valves, springs, connecting rods. That stuff will unlock some sweet power.

It's a shame you're not into exhaust. Don't underestimate a good cat-back though! Unlike what you said, they can actually add some excellent power, especially when combined with a header and hi-flow converter. Dynomax makes a series of muffler (not sure what they're called) which are supposedly really really quiet, almost like stock, and still performance oriented. That should keep a nice cat-back system quiet when coupled with a long resonator/glasspack. Not to mention, a lot of the upgrades you do won't be effective unless you've got a better-flowing exhaust, like the all the intake mods for example, which are essential in squeezing out performance. You can make good power in stock exhaust, but sorry to say, without a high-flowing exhuast you won't come close to making as much power as you want. A good exhaust is a milestone in adding performance.

Look at all these places to find lots and lots of parts at competitive prices:
lmperformance.com
importperformanceparts.net
rsmracing.com
sportcompactonly.com
jegs.com
jcwhitney.com
jtuners.com
jobdyperformance.com
performancecenter.com
rksport.com
maximumboost.net
ptuning.com
turbotechracing.com
summitracing.com
cnfxperformance.com
carcustoms.net
gravanatuning.com

Keep us updated!

Well you should replace the exhaust soon in my opinion. Allowing your engine to breathe better is only going to help if your trying to make more hp. Magnaflow mufflers are pretty quiet compared to most others I've heard. So you might want to look into them.

As far as stealth, you could do a 75 shot of nitrous. That wouldn't change anything about the way your car drives until you turn on the system and go wide open throttle.

Plus for the cost, nitrous offers the most gains per dollar than any other mod.


Scott
2002 Audi S4, black
1996 Z24 auto, red