How to increase your cars performance
There are many ways to increase the performance of your e36 whether it be for better handling and grip to carve through corners or for raw power to pull down straightaways. The best cars are a perfect balance of both and here are some tips on how to achieve the perfect balance of both.
If you are trying to boost the power in your car the best way to do it is with a little bit of boost. Turbochargers are the most effective way to gain power and torque but they are a bit on the expensive side. The cost to turbo or supercharge your car is around 2-3 thousand dollars but if done right with the right parts and tune you can expect power gains between 100-200hp. Parts you will need to get these power gains are upgraded fuel pump, bigger injectors, new exhaust manifold(turbo), down pipe(turbo), tune, intake, intercooler, and the turbo/supercharger. If you want to make more power without the help of force induction you can get bigger injectors, fuel pump, intake, performance exhaust, and an ecu tune to pick up a good amount of power.
If you are more about handling and picking up speed through corners the most important upgrade you can buy are fully adjustable coil overs. coil-overs allow you to lower the car thereby lowering the center of gravity, set the dampening and spring rate for a stiff/soft ride, adjust the camber for grip around corners(-1 or -2 degrees is optimal for street cars), and it all can be adjusted at any time. Another important upgrade is a set of new tires to make sure you are glued to the track and its safer to make sure they are hot before taking corners too strong. Front and rear spoilers do a great job at keeping the car planted through turns at high speed if adjusted correctly and sway bars can keep the car stable at speed but mean less mechanical grip through corners.