Prioritized List of Modifications-Show vs Go

Hello! New to the forum and to the wonderful world of the Prius. Just bought a 2013 Persona. I see there are a good amount of modifications that can be made to a Prius in terms of performance. I am blessed with the bug that allows me to never leave anything stock. I am compiling my purchase list and have been using the forum as a resource. On the whole it seems like there is a dividing line in terms of performance mods that go back to the show vs go ideology.

About me and what I am looking to generate in terms of replies. I have owned several Infiniti's as of late. Love them on the whole but didn't like the direction they were heading and had some major customer service issues. Prior to Infiniti, I had a 1st gen xB that I loved. Great vehicle in so many ways but taught me the lessons of show vs go. As I said jumped back to Toyota and the amazing Prius and am looking for help. On my xB I had most performance mods done just short of purchasing the Greddy supercharger or adding a turbo. I would like to think I am more mature (I bought a Prius right) and more refined so I don't just want to buy parts for the sake of buying parts. If I could get some input say a list for each reply of the top 5-10 bolt on performance mods and where the line of show vs go falls that would be perfect. When I mean go I mean more about handling than I do actual HP gains.

To get it going where on the list (1 being most beneficial) would things like these fall:
Coilovers
Lowering springs
Rear Sway
Front Sway
Strut tower bracing
Chasis bracing
Intake
Exhaust
Wheels
Tires
etc

I know all of these things wouldn't be considered show so maybe more increased performance vs placebo.

I look forward to your replies!

 

Thanks for the replies so far. I should clarify my question/post. My list was just an example of what seem to be the most common performance mods I have read about. Let me pose it this way, which will take coilovers and high end wheels off the list. If you had $1500-$2k to spend on upgrades what would you buy in order of what would make the most performance gains.

It sounds as if that intake/exhaust would just be for sound/looks/placebo. If we focus on suspension it sounds as if rear sway would be a solid starting point. Would that give better handling vs lowering first? What about front sway vs upper strut brace? What about the chassis bracing, where would that fall on the list? What about spending money on lighter weight wheels vs stock persona 17's.

Bottom line what are the top 5 bang for the buck mods?

 

I agree, however are all of those things going to make a noticeable difference? While I could afford all of those I don't want to buy parts just to say I have them. I only want to buy what will make a noticeable difference. Again in comparison to my xB Toyota made a long list TRD parts for it as most/all of the parts they put the TRD name on made a difference. My gut is saying Toyota only made a few Plus/TRD parts for the Prius as those are the things that would make the most difference.

I am sold on rear sway/lowering springs. After that I am on the fence as to if there will be a noticeable difference. Again that is the purpose of my thread.

 

So front strut brace over a front sway bar? Where does the Rude person's/Cusco/Tanabe chassis bracing fall in the mix?

 

TTT! Wow I thought this thread would have generated more interest/replies than this! From what I have read there are a lot of people that have done all sorts of mods out there and I thought more would have had an opinion.

 

Thanks for the reply and info. Again to be clear I am not trying to make it faster as I am well aware that is the furthest thing a Prius was designed for. Again I am more wondering about parts that increase the handling of the Prius. I have to imagine there is some market/interest in at least improving that part of a Prius since Toyota offers parts that improve the handling on the Prius. I don't think companies like Tanabe or Cusco would go out of their way to design and offer parts for a Prius if there wasn't interest/a market.

There seem to be lots of members that have lowered their Prius and bought all of the handling components that are for sale. I am just wondering what parts work and what parts don't seem to make a difference. It has been established that an intake or exhaust of any kind are really only going to change the sound of the Prius but do nothing for performance. So for me those would be at the bottom of the priority list if they even make it.

It seems like lowering it and adding the rear sway improve the handling. Does it end there or do any of the chassis braces, front sway or front strut brace make a noticeable difference or is it so marginal that it isn't worth adding the extra weight?

Also if I have the Persona wheels taking into consideration weight/size would it be worth considering purchasing say the Motegi MR125 in 17's as that would reduce the weight by about 7 lbs per corner. What is that going to do in terms of handling and/or gas mileage. Would that be a worth while investment or is it just going to really just be for show?