I am only 15 years old, and don't know a lot about cars. But, I think I will be getting a Civic within the next two years, and until then want to learn as much about modifications, racing, etc with them as I can. I want my car to look cool, as well as perform well if I need to race it. I will probably be buying any used one thats $10,000 or less and then kind of having it as a project, upgrading parts as I go. I am probably going to get a Black Widow body...but performance-wise, what should be the first things to consider when upgrading? Please help me out and also give me any other suggestions or help you have. Thanks.

First off, if you don't know a lot about cars study some books on the fundamentals. A good understanding of cars and thier systems will help a lot in the future ESPECIALLY if you're going to start adding performance parts to it. I didn't have a clue about basic car operation when I bought my civic but I began studying and now I'm going to school for an auto repair degree with the hopes of someday opening my own 'speed shop'.<br><br>Anyways, to answere your questions. Performance is not just making the car go faster. It needs to handle better and stop faster. You can have the fastest car on the road but it'll do you no good if you can't control or stop it. The three basic bolt ons most people choose for their first performance parts are IHE. Intake Header and Exhaust. The horsepower gains are minimal but they open both the intake and exhaust airflow and ready the car for bigger, better, faster parts. But before you start adding cams, pistons, turbos, this that and the other it would be a good idea to upgrade the suspension as well as the brakes. Shocks and springs (or coilovers), sway bars, roll bars, these are all common of a suspension upgrades. Bigger rotors and brake pads are good for more stopping power.<br>Now you're ready for the fun stuff. Turbo, supercharger, pistons, cams and gears, pulley's, valves,rings, and retainers. Throttle bodies, manifolds, injectors, fuel pumps, ignitons, blah blah blah. Basically everything under the hood can be ugraded one way or another. People have many different opinons on what to start with and which way to go from there.<br>Remember this though, an engine is a precise piece of equipment. All parts need to work together to produce any kind of power and prevent the engine from bieng destroyed. Compression, pressure, vaccum, ratios, they all need to be precise in order for the engine to work properly. The average person with a minimal understanding won't have the knowledge or tools to do this kind of engine tuning. To save you time, money, and frustration, learn as much as you can about cars and their systems. Having a fast, nice looking car is great. But, the feeling of doing the work yourself or at least knowing exactly what was done is better than saying, "I dunno, I just took it to a garage and paid someone to put all this stuff in."

A good book to check out is 'Honda and Acura Performance Handbook' by Mike Ancas. Perfect for any newbies looking for info on where to start.