[REMOVED]
 

.

Invest time and money into attending the next autocross near you! You don't need to change a thing on your FR-S, I just entered our most recent one a week ago with bone stock FR-S. Lots of fun! Started off a bit out of control and slidey. Our event doesn't like excessive slides, you'll get ejected if it's judged you are drifting. But judicious oversteer is tolerated. I was used to previous events with my cars with high performance summer, or almost R compound tires that I overdrove. Once I toned it down and smoothed it out a bit got much better. Oh, remember to turn off all the electromom VSC & traction controls. My first run I forgot & it was frustrating and no fun!
Note that my FR-S did not come with the "Prius" Michelins that everyone seems to bag on, I got even more squirrely Bridgstone All Seasons!
Start with no mods and learn how the car feels, and then when you slowly add mods you can feel and appreciate what the mods did. I'll prob get better tires as first significant mod. Next mod would be a cat back as the stock sound is a little weak. It won't add a whole lot of power, you'll gain more with better technique than exhaust, but I want a better sound!

Wet parking lots after hours. All the slip and slide you want for free. But sway bars and strut braces are a good investment if you want to go side ways. Also avoid putting fat wheels in the rear... obviously. The cheapest new exhausts are 600-800 $ so that's a pretty big cut out of your target budget

Dyno testied :lol:

Sounds like an engineer to me...

^ This

I highly recommend doing some autocross. I'm sure you can find an autocross school around you through the SCCA or other organizations.

Now, I say this fully understanding what you want to do with this car. Because any type of driving or sport, takes control. I took my evo to an autocross school after doing a good handful of back roads driving. I was promptly put in my place, even spinning the evo out twice in my first day.

One thing people don't do is learn the car they have. Leave it stock for a while and take some autocross schools. You will learn control. Plus, this way you spend your money the right way in your first modifications.

My instructor said one thing that will apply to any driving in any car. "Its driving the car at the limit while under control." Everyone has a different limit and the car has a limit as well. Once you can drive your car at the limit, you will know how to modify it to raise that limit.

Also from doing a rally school (Dirtfish in my case). People tend to do too much. Driving is really about being smooth and lazy, you don't want to over do it. Watch any driver (rally, track, drift), they make it look effortless because they are being smooth and lazy. I spun my evo out in autocross from harsh inputs and it upset the car, causing me to spin out.

The Driver Mod should be your first modification. Make yourself a better driver and your mods will be that much better.

same thing happened to me with the slides. Tires had to warm up.

The best book I ever read regarding cars:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Hacks-Mods-Dummies-David-Vespremi/dp/0764571427"]Car Hacks & Mods For Dummies: David Vespremi: 0785555887121: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_je_xfZ5IKn...rhacksmods.jpg

It's about 8 years old (back when spinners were popular) but is otherwise spot-on with all it's advice. Buy it, read it, love it. It covers every facet of vehicle performance from suspension, power, brakes, appearance, care and maintenance, and how to take a specific direction with a project. Good luck, sir!