1. Tires, tires, tires
- Do. Not. Cheap. Out. On. Your. Tires. I cannot stress this enough. A good set of high-performance tires will help every single aspect of your car's performance, from accelerating to braking to cornering. If you live in an area where you have a prolonged winter, it's completely reasonable to have two sets of tires and wheels: one for the summer and one for the winter, each with rubber compounds optimized to their respective temperature ranges. Seriously, tires are that important.
- See the fancy brake rotors in this photo, with the holes drilled into them? Don't buy those -- they won't make a difference. Getting a set of brake pads made for the type of driving you do, however, will impact the feel of your brakes quite a bit. While you're in there, change your car's rubber brake lines, which can flex and make the pedal seem numb under hard braking. By using a stainless steel set, the rigidity of the walls means you'll see a marked improvement in the way your brakes communicate with your foot.
- Shock absorbers, by the very act of absorbing the shocks that come from driving over bumps, etc., help keep your tires planted firmly on the pavement. They also help control the natural up and down motion that springs are wont to do after they've been compressed, thereby making your car feel much more stable. Combine good shocks -- there's no need to go with fancy, adjustable versions unless you honestly know what you're doing -- with a stiffer and lower set of springs, and you'll start to see a sort of multiplier effect of all the good geometry you've been working towards.
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