2005 SLE
 

Could use your 2 cents on how to soop up an SLE. What are your experiences and what gives you the most HP/Torque improvements for the money without doing cams and heavy engine mods. Thanks

I'll move your topic for you. This section is reserved for mechanical problems only.

honestly, you wont see BIG gains without a cam.

about as far as you can go, is 1.9:1 ratio rockers, and all the accompanying mods, and you'd be lucky to see much more than a 25hp increase at the wheels

anything larger than that is going to require a cam, supercharger or a turbo.

well I have the same motor and i was going to say an intake and ported exhaust manifolds and maybe a 2.5 downpipe and a high flow cat but other then that you are looking at fairly decent money for mods there is also the hv3 insert but that is still up for debate here and the lim porting is being experimented with also but look around and you will se plenty of info but also check the tech info at the top

FWIW, I don't think I've seen a non cam'ed L36 pass the 200 whp mark.
As far as the valvetrain goes, ZZP ER rockers are the best ratio you can go with. 1.9's are too high a ratio and you end up with a more peaky powerband.
Check out Easy Performance's tech info article on the ER ratio.
I saw a hv3 mentioned and that mod would compliment rockers and exhaust work nicely. Without valvetrain work though, it isn't recommended.
What are you looking to spend and how far are you looking to go as far as DIY stuff goes?
There are various threads on how to make your lower intake manifold more efficient.