No need for upgraded injectors or wastegate tampering. I would hold off on the fmic and get some gauges and engine management instead.

 

the top mount is good enough for those kind of upgrades.

 

unless u plaining on upgrading ur turbo, fuel systems, and some sort of engine management, the fmic is a waste of money.....the stock tmic is more then adequate for what you are going for. if you're really concern bout the cooling effect of the intercooler, i would suggest, getting the sti hoodscoop, splitter, and water spray kit.

also, i would recommend getting samco intercooler hose, sti motor and tranny mounts

 

My car is a daily driver and reliablity/drivability is paramount. My path goes like this- uppipe for sure- lower egts,quicker spool, extra ponies,- ditto for the downpipe, you can leave the two mid pipes in (front one contains the the 3rd oe cat, rear one the resonator section) these won't rob much power, add a mufller section (commonly refered to as a axle back). This will greatly open up your exhaust and has no down sides, figure close to 35-40 hp w/ these upgrades. Throw on a uprated ic hose set and add another 5hp.

I don't know what a front mount ic runs for, but for ~ $750 you can get a ecu reflash that will add another 30 hp of reliable, smooth, safe power.

This will be a very quick spooling, torquey, fast setup and very relaible and driveable.

Don't part w/ your hard earned $ until you are satisfied that your chosen upgrades will do what you want them to do.

Big Sky

 

Fairly recently, a few people have "cracked" the oe computer. It is a highly complex computer w/ many,many maps and parameters. They have sold the software to a few select tuners/shops that enables them to modify maps (boost, timing, many others) by reflashing the stock ecu. They keep all of the built in safety/reliablity features of the stock ecu (there are many), but tweak the right maps to increase performance.

I can only suggest/reccomend what I'm using for exhaust upgrades- I have a STi (JDM) catless uppipe- chosen for lack of leaking issues (also good price, used, but jetcoated for $125), I have the Scoobysport downpipe- chosen for torque gains and the ability to retain the 3rd oe cat, and I have the Scoobysport muffler- famous for its tone. There are many other quality pieces out there as well.

big sky

 

I went with the TurboXS "stealth" system and I am verry happy with it. The Stealth is a turbo back exhaust without up-pipe or muffler and runs around $700.00. It's a good set up and allows you to upgrade an aftermarket muffler later if you want. I could definatly tell a differance with the exhaust in terms of power, reducing back pressure allso alows for quicker turbo spool up (less lag). This set up removes 1 cat and replaces another with a hi-flow cat.
like the other posts say don't worry about the intercooler. capt'n'caveman mentioned the Samco silicon intercooler hoses, they run around $160.00 and Samco claims 5 additional horses but I have talked to people (who don't sell them by the way) who have dynoed them and have seen as mutch as a 7 horse power gain from them, plus they look cool. I have them but while 5 HP is a good gaine for only $150.00 I can't realy tell the difference, yet I belive in the product from the info I have been able to get and think it's a worth while upgrade.
The K&N is a good way to go and many claime it offers better or equal performance as any short ram or cold air intake and it's cheaper.
Bost control can help wake up your turbo by allowing it to reach full boost faster and for each psi you add you can expect a net gain of around 6 or 7 HP. I am running mine at 15.8 psi and though some would say thats a little high I think it's fine unless you don't have acssess to a good fuel in your area.
palaban mentioned engine management. I don't know much about re-flashes but a uni-chip can be had for around $600.00+ and many swear by them. I personally went with a UTEK because I like the ability to tune it myself and the one I got alows me to choose between 4 pre-programmed settings, and I like the fact that my UTEK has more advanced safties built in and from what I have been able to gather the safties are better than the stock ECU. UTEK's start at around $825.00 and go up to $1600.00, mabey more, but you can get a good deal of power out of them, I have heard of 25-40 HP being gained but this is also dependant on what can be extracted from other upgrades through better management. I went with TurboXS again for the UTEK but there are other good ones out there.
The Upgrades that have been mentioned in the previous posts and this one are all very reliable. My car is a daily driver and it's my only car so reliability is very important to me. The only issue I have had is an occasional CEL caused by the rear o2 sensor but this has been fixed with a $20.00 mod from poney express and while I have not yet had emmissions done I am very confident of passing. If I don't pass I'll just have to hook up the old mid pipe to the stealth setup effectivly replacing the hi-flow with th3e stock and I am certain that would make it pass. The only problem would be if your area does cold start testes but thats not practicle wear I live so I just let it idle while I wait, this way the cats stay hot and there sould be no problem.
This is more inf than you asked for but I hope it will help you to make some decissions. Do forum searches for specific parts information, there is more hear than you shoud need.
Good luck