[Chiketkd]

Seraph by 'under developed' I meant in terms of its automotive applications. Also a 10:1 compression ratio is no longer considered to be very high...several manufacturers today are running above a 10.0:1 ratio. Nissan's 3.5L VQ used in the 350Z/G35 runs a 10.3:1 ratio, while the flat 6 used in the 911 Carrera runs an 11.3:1 ratio. Even Ford's SVT Focus runs a 10.2:1 ratio.

Going back to NA performance mods, the ones I'll be looking at initially will be:

JDM Grounding Kit ($40 on ebay)
Motorsports Warehouse Exhaust ($395 + 2.5" piping + labor = approx $600 total)
Cone Air Filter kit ($75)
Stage 1 ECU upgrade ($179.99)

That comes to a hair under $900 and those mods alone will not alter the appearance of your SVX in any way, while adding over 40 'safe' hp. I also don't feel I'll need to upgrade the driveshaft at that point as the power increase will be produced gradually as the revs climb, as opposed to a big surge of power as with NOS or a turbo system when it comes on boost.

As I don't plan to do my 5spd swap right away, I'll also spend $50 on a shift kit and $90 on a tranny cooler (as well as use synthetic fluid). That should bring my total initial investment to just a tad over $1000 and my SVX should be shifting better, running cooler (in the tranny) and be able to run mid to low 14's in the 1/4. Once the 5 spd goes in, 13 sec timeslips shouldn't be out of the question.

And this will all be Naturally Aspirated!