I already told you what will work - Chipping AND TUNING the ECU.
Rom burner $45-$200 (average: $100) (this is a tool, not an "installed" item)
Wideband O2 $250-500+ (average: $300) (again, tool.)
Couple chips $1-2 each for flash chips
Socket: 25 cents at my local electronics store, less online
74HC373: 50 cents at my local electronics store, less online
Couple caps: pennies each
Having your car tuned well? Priceless.
I saw almost 30WHP PEAK gain on the last NA car I tuned, with HUGE gains in torque throughout the whole powerband. Supposed to get a copy of the before +after dyno charts from the kid sometime... 97 teg w/ JDM ITR + Skunk2 stage1 cams + ferrea valvetrain. Generic Skunk2 garbage program to custom done with 4 hours of street tuning. 29 WHP peak gain, torque curve stable, TONS more usable power. Kid's first words after I made him drive around the block were, "Is this my car? What did you do to it?"
Tuning it right (i.e. chipping it, modding fuel/timing tables with wideband and/or dyno for guidance) will make you real power. Learning a lot about how motors work and how ECUs run motors will give you enough insight to spot obvious glaring issues with the car's tune, but as I tune more and more cars with proper tools, blind chipping seems less and less interesting.