power is overrated. tires, used coilovers, and an alignment.

 

You can make your car a lot faster (and cost-efficiently) by improving the suspension rather than engine output.

Used downpipe (should be under $100 for a catless one, more if you want a high-flow race cat)
e-tune+tactrix cable ($400 total)

After that, the best improvement would be wheels/tires. Get something 17 inch with a good 45 series tire on it. In your price range, it will probably be used Rota's.

If you already have 17 inch wheels I would spend the other $500 on suspension.

An sti rear sway bar ($50-100 max), rear strut bar ($20 on ebay, you wont see it in a sedan anyway so just get these cheap ones they work just as well), fender braces ($100 max). After that, save up for some decent struts/springs. That will run around $1000 total if you do it right. Either Toico D-specs, STI v7 take-offs, or Koni inserts paired with whatever spring you feel like.

 

catless uppipe and DP and os tune for power

 

i'm a bit wary of online tunes simply because it's hard (and expensive)to fix the hardware if you mess up with the software. not saying it's not viable, but be aware of what you're getting.

 

Matt...you picked up a WRX?

Up-Pipe/Downpipe/Accessport V2/Protune

Or go opensource and replace the Accessport with a nice EBC...and bigger TMIC

The tune will be a big part of your power output along with the parts above...

 

wow!!! alot of info here. I really appreciate the suggestions. so looks like ill be looking for a downpipe and perhaps a APv2. ill do more research on e-tunes to see how viable it is. again, thank you all for the suggestions and keeping me in budget...

 

might have the wrong guy but thanks for the suggestions