snowflow

iTrader: (14)

And save the money for what?
The first things I did to my car before any power mods were suspension overall. Struts, springs, sways, tires, etc. Then went stage 2, 2 years later.

Agreed. For a limited budget, finding a good spring setup would be alright.

I found JDM sti struts for under $150 and bought prodrive red springs and ran that for 2 years before getting coilovers.
The koni/kyb stuff is a good buy to.

snowflow

iTrader: (14)

Research around. Something that is fully adjustable and of reputable make can't go too wrong.

freshrex

iTrader: (4)

tein or jic pm sent

TurnWRX

iTrader: (3)

umm the guy has no job, so how about more important stuff like food, rent, clothing, tuition, etc

snowflow

iTrader: (14)

Ya, I can agree with that, but then why is he even asking? Sounds like he already knows he wants to mod the car and he doesn't mention that he's struggling to make ends meet on that subject. That's off the topic.

willow

iTrader: (3)

I think 500 is too limited. Good spring and shock set up will be around $700. Plus, you most likely need rear camber kit + allignment. If you skip the second part you will be spending more money on tires. I would say save some more.

snowflow

iTrader: (14)

This is great advice. An alignment is very important. Make sure to get at least get yourself some camber bolts for the rear. I forgot to get aligned and wore out some tires prematurely.

While saving money, keep your eyes open for good used parts. That's what I always do. Someone else's loss is your gain.

slugrx

iTrader: (12)

i got bc coilovers used for 700 and ive been very pleased with them

salvator_rizzo

iTrader: (7)

bc's are good for the money, nothing especially awesome, but for the price they definitely have some quality. Tein's are also really nice and you can sometimes find them used for a good price for sure.
A ground control / koni setup would be ideal, but getting a full set of koni yellows new can cost you around 800 bucks. Something you could consider is picking up a set of kyb agx's instead, those could save you a few hundred.

However, all of this definitely goes over your budget. for 500, you really kind of have to stick with springs and struts. Even ground control coils are about 400 bucks and aren't really that great on stock struts.

If i was you I'd find some kyb agx's used with not too many miles (definitely not over 30k) and then pick up a set of decent springs, you will be very happy with that setup for under 500 bucks

O and dont buy the godspeed coilovers. You don't want to toy around with cheap suspension its kind of critical to the car lol. when coils are 500 dollars new there must have been a few items of quality they skimped out on
these guys have some good suggestions as well http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/suspen...coilovers.html

JelloChex

iTrader: (6)

Koni Yellows can be had on www.shox.com for $627.90 for the set right now and that is pretty much their normal price all the time there.

salvator_rizzo

iTrader: (7)

o damn i guess i priced that out wrong my bad.

but even still, koni's with gc coilovers are 379 +627 is roughly 1000 bucks plus some top hats if you didnt want to rock stock, a bit over budget :/

JelloChex

iTrader: (6)

Not necessarily priced wrong, just got to know where to shop.

glenspen

iTrader: (3)

I've got the Helix DNA coilovers from GST and they have served me very well for what they cost. I've tracked them, autoX them and I drive to work and back everyday on them without issues. I wanted the $4K Ohlins but what with the wife, child and mortgage I couldn't justify the price.

I've come top in my class at AutoX several times on my DNAs so they can't be that bad