The 10 Best Ways to Upgrade Your Car for Less Than $5,000

Image via Complex Original

If you ask a pro driver about what separated good from great, there's a good chance he'll say "braking." We know that slowing down isn't really what you think of when you think of racing, but it has to happen before every corner, and the better your brakes are, the more time you can stay on the throttle before entry.

Carbon ceramic brake pads also have the advantage of not gunking up your nice new wheels with grey brake dust.

Yeah, we know you can spend way more than $5,000 on paint, but you can also get a kick ass job done for $3,000 to $5,000. Pick a shade that is hard to find on a stock car, like a very deep pearl red, and name it something like sangue rosso (blood red), or get a tasteful, asymmetrical racing stripe.

If you're looking to save some cash, go for a vinyl wrap. If you're hoping to jump on the matte paint trend, we go vinyl too, as it's nowhere near as finicky as real matte paint and looks just as good.

Whatever you do, don't do this.

This is probably the easiest way to get some more power out of your engine, especially if it's a factory turbo engine. All that's going on here is a software update. Needless to say, if you don't go with a reputable tuner, your engine can get seriously screwed up. Just because you can push the rev limiter up to 18,000 rpms doesn't mean you should.

Once again, think "performance," not "bling," and you won't look like a douche. A nice set of good wheels from a reputable company like BBS will reduce the unsprung weight of your car, which will, in turn, improve handling significantly. That's not to say they won't also make your ride look better, but style can't supersede substance.

If the engine is spinning it or pushing it, its weight is important. Every newton of force your engine spends spinning something like a drive shaft is a newtown of force that your tires aren't applying to the pavement. Lightening your whole drivetrain will give you faster throttle response and more power. We all want faster throttle response and more power, right?

Once again, you can break the budget on this one, but you can also get some nice results for less than $5k. If you're going to shell out for custom, we think you should get a unique color scheme, and some quilting in a pattern that can only be had custom. What's the point of paying for custom work, if i just ends up looking like a seat swap?

If you are trying to save some money, just try to find a pair of the leather seats from the Dodge Dart, they're amazing.

By slapping an aftermarket exhaust system on your car, you can gain a few horsepower and achieve a richer sound. Please be sure to choose an exhaust that's designed for performance, and not a "fart can," or you'll be seen as a douche. 

Axle-back exhausts only replace the part of your exhaust that's behind the rear axle, and are cheaper than, but not as effective as a cat-back, which replaces everything behind the catalytic converters. Either way, whatever you get should be well less than your $5k limit.

You might not be able to pull this off safely and stay in budget, but if you have a car that is popular for turbocharging or supercharging, there's a likelihood that you can get some easy horsepower out of a well-designed kit. Just remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Some shady tuners will get really high power figures for very little money, but it's only because they haven't bothered to update any parts of the engine that will be under greater stress, which will lead to engine failure.

Do your research on your particular make and model before shelling out at least $3,000 for some more horses.

The factory probably did a great job tuning your car's suspension so that it would be inoffensive to most people, but you have specific uses for a car. You need something that can rallycross and be a daily driver and that means you need a specific setup. Consult with someone who really knows what they're talking about, and you'll get the right set up.

We're serious. Nothing will do as much for your car as good tires. Hell, for less than five grand you could buy top spec all-weather, track, and winter tires ... and you probably should. They're the only part of your car that directly interfaces with the world, so accelerating, braking, and turning are all on these.

PS: If you want a street-legal track tire, we pictured a Toyo Proxes R888 for a reason.