Easily installed on most cars on jack stands, these mods will significantly improve the car's handling, stability, and overall driving enjoyment.

Modifying cars doesn't need to be expensive. It's possible to make a car perform better without spending thousands of dollars on a turbocharger or supercharger. These mods are all affordable, and the car will stay street legal. Some may even increase the car's value. Each of these mods can be installed on most cars in a garage on jack stands, which can be found with a hydraulic jack for about $150. Some of these mods will increase horsepower, while the rest of them will help with feedback in all aspects of the car. These mods will improve handling, braking, stability, and enjoyment, especially on older cars.

An aftermarket radio obviously won't improve performance, but older cars lack the convenient features of modern head units. Features like Bluetooth enable drivers to answer calls and play music hands-free. It's also possible to have touch screens installed in cars. For an owner that wants to keep the car as stock as possible but introduce some new features, some factory head units can accommodate harnesses that allow a Bluetooth connection. In some cases, the stock head unit can be modified to allow USB connections.

A bigger throttle body is a cheap and easy way to gain a little more horsepower. Depending on the engine, gains of around 20 horsepower can be expected. However, to reap the benefits, the engine will need larger fuel injectors. A larger throttle body will increase the amount of air being sucked into the engine, and that extra airflow should be compensated with more fuel. Search the forums for what other owners have done and look for dyno charts to see real proof of horsepower increase. RELATED: 10 Strange Car Modifications And Their Surprising Origins

Increasing speed doesn't always mean increasing horsepower. Weight reduction helps keep a car light on its toes. Less weight means faster acceleration and affected handling. Common ways of reducing weight are removing spare tires and scissor jacks from the trunk. Some cars have a lot of weight in sound deadening, so if a loud ride isn't bothersome that can be removed as well. Other cars have lighter parts in other trims. The FC RX-7 convertible, for instance, uses an aluminum hood and light wheels. Those can easily swap onto hatchback models. Other features not needed to make a car run like A/C sometimes weigh as much as 50 pounds and can be removed as well.

Using a performance pad compound will give the brakes an aggressive bite. Pads are available in organic, ceramic, and metal compounds. If performance is the only goal, nothing provides more bite than the metal compound. Ceramic pads are quiet but expensive, and can't handle as much heat as metal pads, which are loud and produce a lot of dust. Sometimes other trims use more pistons in their brake calipers than other models. SN95 Mustang owners will often use brakes from an early 2000s Cobra, which uses calipers with two pistons instead of one for extra stopping power.

Chances are the car being modified has rubber brake lines. These can corrode, and under extreme heat will expand, providing inconsistent braking feedback. Rubber brake lines feel spongy and weak. Replacing the stock rubber with braided stainless-steel brake lines is a simple and inexpensive process. Stainless steel lines provide consistent and sharp braking feedback. The pedal feels solid and precise. Be advised, the brake fluid will need to be flushed, which is easier and cheaper with a brake bleeding tool, usually on sale for about $30. RELATED: These Pickup Modifications Left Us Scratching Our Heads

One of the easiest, simplest, and least expensive mods on a car is replacing the rubber bushings with polyurethane. Cars typically come with rubber because it's soft and quiet while camouflaging imperfections in the road, like potholes and divots. However, they wear out and flex under stress. Polyurethane bushings make the suspension feel stiffer, thus the driver feels more feedback especially while cornering. Polyurethane bushings can come individually or in kits, for the shock absorbers, sway bars, and steering components.

The benefits of modifying an exhaust is threefold, depending on the engine it's bolted to. On small engines like inline-fours, a modified exhaust isn't going to do much, if anything, for power. However, it can help with weight reduction, especially if converting the car to a single exhaust. Big engines like V8s will see serious performance gains, but mostly if the entire system is replaced. An aftermarket exhaust system can be expensive if it needs to be smog-legal, but if it's just for racing purposes then legality doesn't come into play. Besides weight reduction and power, an aftermarket exhaust makes the engine note customizable.

A modification popular among Mustang owners is adding a strut tower brace. With a lot of power behind them, a chassis can pretzel under hard acceleration. A strut tower brace is a metal bar that fits above the engine under the hood and connects the strut towers together. It adds rigidity, helping to reduce body flex and offer better cornering. Installation can be as easy as fitting bolts through pre-drilled holes atop each strut tower. However, some holes may need to be drilled to fit the bolts through. Either way, it's a quick job that can be easily uninstalled if desired. RELATED: These Ford Mustang Owners Ruined Their Cars With Ugly Modifications

Cars come with 900-degree steering racks from the factory which means turning a car's front wheels to full lock takes three complete steering wheel revolutions. A quick-ratio steering rack completes full lock in fewer turns, depending on which rack is installed. 900 degrees is smooth and easy, but not ideal for quick response turning. A quick-ratio steering rack will be more precise and quick but may present itself as abrupt and jerky. This is a modification primarily for race-only application, especially beneficial to something like autocross.

In a slightly more niche corner of car modification is a short shifter. It's not entirely necessary on every car, but in some cars like Subarus which have long throws between gears, a short shifter can save precious nanoseconds in racing scenarios. Racing is all about shaving seconds off of the fastest time. Short shifters make shifting a quick process, and as a result, less time is spent with one hand off of the wheel. Engine speed is sustained as well. Some cars come with short shifters from the factory, but for those that don't, it's an easy mod to install. NEXT: 4 Modifications Guaranteed To Ruin Your Car (4 That Will Actually Make It More Valuable)

While some cars were anticipated to be great, this bunch surprised us the most.

Brian has been writing about cars for almost 15 years for various publications across multiple mediums. He has reported on motorsports events and attended press conferences for vehicle releases. Brian has owned and worked on Japanese sports cars and motorcycles, German executive sedans, as well as American trucks and Mustangs. His goal is to build a classic car with modern power.