I have done so much to the car (98 Cavalier 2200) and the engine has been well taken car of except in the performance area.... i was curious as to what are some of the cheapest but noticeable engine upgrades for a 2200?? i have done an intake and exhaust but thats about it. The reason i am asking for the cheapest besides obvious reasons is the fact I'm not wanting to do a complete tear down of the engine just yet just trying to add a little more get up and go like better throttle response and a little more quickness if possible.
Anyone got any tips or tricks???

Motor and trans mounts. B&M shift plus is a nice one as well.
crank pulley

Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
or alternator pulley which ever
Pretty much everything above. Mounts, pulleys and headers will net you a little gain, and will make your car a little perky without too much work (you said you already did the exhaust/intake, which is a great start). If you feel adventurous, maybe a bigger throttle body?
2010 Honda Fit LX
I'm gonna sound stupid here but what does a bigger throttle body do?
and another stupid question how does motor mounts give a extra gain? I mean i know that they will make the motor more stable and give less engine shake but I didn't know you could have gain from them
I apologize for the dumb questions it's just i have always built motors for show and not so much go, so this is a little bit of a new area for me

you said you want cheap engine upgrades. engine mounts are about the cheapest you can get.
they keep the engine from moving, thus preventing the header from getting cracked against the firewall when you have the gas pedal down

Im a Xbox 360 fanboy...and damn proud of it!!
And by having stiff motor mounts less wheel hop.
pick 2 of the 3 in any way, and then you dont have the 3rd one left.
cheap, fast, realiable
thanks a ton for the info... and i wasn't second guessing you was just trying to understand some of this stuff is all .... thanks again for all your help and everyone who posted

go big or go home

12.33 @ 111.67 mph [Oct 2009]
Dyno'd on 08/02/09 - Mustang Dyno:
327.6 WHP 333.6 WTQ [10.1 AFR]
The biggest power and noticable performance gains for your money are going to be header, crank pulley, and since your car is an automatic the B&M shiftplus.
If you want, get a mount insert for $15 or whatever, but unless your stock mounts are shot spend the money somewhere else.
I promise those 3 I listed will be the best bang for your buck though.
someone needs to make a sticky with recomended first mods. like where the weak spots are on different engines that would be best to be upgraded first.
there must be 3-4 threads on every page asking the same question.

Listen F***ers. FASTERTHANAHONDA is a joke because I WORK FOR HONDA. I'll talk @!#$ about Fords to, that doesn't mean I can beat a 12 second mustang.
^ how about adding it to a sticky.. WAY to many stickys lol.
My Cav
I give up...
i'm buying a VW those people love trees, so they should love eachother too... "Andy"
hell, put it in the rulebook. i say a stocky for the different morors in the different gens. GENIII forum only has 1 at the moment.
but i gotta add.
a 50 shot is deffenatley the best bang for the buck.

Listen F***ers. FASTERTHANAHONDA is a joke because I WORK FOR HONDA. I'll talk @!#$ about Fords to, that doesn't mean I can beat a 12 second mustang.