alright, this question's gonna be a bit iffy probably...
I know xBs are crazy tunable with bigger mods, like the turbo, body kits, cold air induction, etc. etc. etc. but i'm a cheapskate and buying an xB and financing it is going to make me broke, so i'm gonna ask you this:
my uncle's got a Subaru WRX (different league, i know) and he's found some small mods for it here and there... like re-routing air hose to keep air colder, etc.
Dad owns a 1991 VW Fox and they say the first thing you should do if you're modding one of those is to replace the exhaust gasket because the factory ones are made to pinch and restrict airflow.
I'm wondering if anyone's aware of little mods like this... the kinds of stuff you can just tweak to enhance performance and whatever.
Thanks a lot guys.

 

not that i'm aware of...

You can do a lot of hand porting, make 20-30 dollar intake. $50 straight pipe axel back.. change plugs.. etc etc

 

what's building the intake entail? i did notice that the intake was really tiny (just put a deposit on an xB last night).

 

i replaced mine when i put my headers on my xa... it doesn't look at all like that gasket will restrict the arflow, it's a perfect fit on it and that's the only place i could see a gasket being on the exhaust, cept for the donut gasket at the downpipe and maybe that weird connection at axel. i switched mine all out for 1 piece, connects at down pipe. i think anything you do to these is not gonna be really noticable at all, i've got intake, headers, and full exhaust, the basic weekend warrior setup... i notice, i'd say alot more power than before, but it's still slow, i can charge up hills alot easier and reach freeway speeds much faster than before, but it's not cutting it for me.
by the mods you were metioning those seem like the under $5 section of mods, cept for that gasket, those things are like $20, expensive little f$ckers. i don't really know what you mean by re-routing the airlines, but if your uncle did it to his wrx then have him mess with your car.. you'd end up spending a total of maybe $4 on hoses at any auto parts store for that. it's more of a trial-n-error thing with that unless you know exactly what you're doin.