H3 Alpha 2008 owner for 8 months and use it for a 10 min commute. Looking to do some modifications. Some performance, some cosmetic. Not a mechanic by any means, but a few tweaks would be fun to do.

Performance - are these the easy ones without breaking the bank?
Exhaust - looking at magnaflow dual stainless
Air intake - anything that just improves flow? Found a bunch of different suggestions online.
Chip - no idea?
Throttle and/or carb spacer - getting mixed message online for this. Does it actually do anything?

If I start touching one or more of the above do I need to get a professional tuneup to get everything working in harmony?
All the individual vendors claim the huge benefits of their solution. It must be slightly more complicated than that to get the whole modified system synchronized.
Comments suggestions appreciated.