Beginner looking for advice on Mods?

[1.5]

First mod I would do is suspension. These cars are like 4x4 boats. I could fit an entire car in my stock wheel gap not to mention the body roll. You have a few options for suspension. I like being "spanked" like you say so I'm slammed on coilovers but these are your options.

1. Coilovers are going to be your most pricey option but you will probably get the best performance out of them and they are adjustable. Some Allow you to only adjust ride height/preload others will allow you to adjust ride height, spring preload, damper force, and shock stroke length. With all of these options you could deff adjust it to be a minimal drop while greatly increasing the handling performance. None of the other options will allow you to go as low as coilovers will. $850-$2000

2. Springs combined with shocks/struts. This option can be much cheaper depending which spring you chose and which shock/strut you pick. The performance gain will be almost what you get from coil overs. The spring will stiffen the ride and lower the ride and the shock/strut will further stiffen the ride and increase handling but have no effect on ride height. Most people will tell you to go this route as it is affordable while giving you great performance gains. You can go with tokico blues, kyb, or Tokico Red shocks/struts. The reds are considerably more expensive only because they have damper force adjustablity. $350-$1300 (only this expensive if you go with reds as they are $999.00)

3. Your last option is springs by themselves. This is the cheapest easiest way to lower the car and increase handling. The springs will be stiffer and may be linear (one constant spring rate regardless of the amount of compression) or progessive (as the spring compresses further the spring rate increases and gets stiffer). The linear will be slightly stiffer than progressive as the progressives under minimal compression will be closer to the stock spring rate. The main negative about springs is that your stock shocks will lose life because they are not made for the shorter/stiffer springs. There are many spring choices ranging from 1" drop to 2" drop and various spring rates including H+R and Ksport for your progressive rate options. $100-$200

The RSB is a great way to increase cornering ability and decrease body roll or side to side flexing. This will be noticeable and is a nice place to start for pretty cheap. Not to mention the install could not be easier.

As far as performance, intake/headers/axelback are going to be your basic mods. Our small 4 cylinders are not going to creat much power but to me any little bit helps. The exhaust will make the car louder and sportier but some exhausts might have a more subdued than others. Like the tanabe medallion is going to be pretty close to stock for noise. There are also drivetrain/tranny mods like lighter pulleys or a short shift kit which will not make power but will help deliver what power you do have to the ground.

Any of the mods listed above are a nice place to start but my personal preference is suspension first. All of the mods listed above can be found at microimageonline.com and I recommend them for price/service/and support.

DO NOT throw a body kit on a stock height car. To me that is super ugly.

Welcome and congrats on the purchase.