All Stock and slow as hell

[eRant]

Sup all. Just got my car a few months back ('97 eclipse gs) and its all stock.
Bad Breaks lately when some jerk shattered rear window while I was at work (had the car for about 3 months at that point with window replacement at $520 total w/ installation)
Think thats sad?....my mom asked me to come to the house to take my bro to school...so i go home and park in the driveway....my mom says by as i walk in since she had to go to HER job so i say bye...next thing i know she BACKS UP INTO MY CAR!!! =(

only visible damage is the left front bumper is slightly lowered...maybe 1/4 of an inch.

anyway..theres my rant, now for some help from you guys (I HOPE)
This is my first car and im not very comfortable messing with them my self. So far my car is as pretty damn slow...i need some speed in other words. What should i do?....go for the intake and maybe exhaust?...should i goto a shop or order the parts myself and have the shop install em?
where can i find good Performance shops in so cal hopefully near Ontario/Rancho (Inland Empire)
Btw:I got bills up the a55...what can i do for $200-$400 Cheaper da better and sorry this post took up 50% of the page

 

[Bigpav7]

for 200-400 you can get an exhaust (there are plenty good ones for eclipses, tehre have been many discussions here on which on is the best), have it installed by a muffler shop and get an air intake and install it yourself. (very easy, no mechanical skills necessary). this won't make your car super fast but you will gain around 15-20 horses and the car will breathe much better, much better throttle response. So try that and good luck!!

 

[eclipsegs96]

buy an AEM cold air intake (pending on where you live)getting any water sucked up in it is very bad. The AEM short intake works very nice but always better to get the coldest air possible.

Good Luck