New Suspension
After a lot of pricing and consideration, I decided to keep my suspension stock to save some money and retain my stock ride height. I would say that keeping my ride height the same was probably the most important factor in my decision to go with stock replacement KYB struts. I also took this opportunity to change out top hats, although the old ones felt fairly solid still. After 114xxx Kms it's clear that my old struts were getting tired; they were much easier to compress and slower to return to fully extended than the new ones. The difference is very noticeable once installed as well. Where my car used to bounce or compress excessively going in and out of parki lots for example, it now absorbs the change in height smoothly while still feeling firm. I'm sure that the Konis would have been nice but I couldn't justify the additional cost involved, not to mention the confusion between spring perch heights which may or may not have dropped the car depending on which strut my Impreza has.
I'll likely end up regretting my decision to keep the stock springs, since I had the whole setup out of the car, but I'm still trying to figure out the best spring to suit my needs. As of right now, I think my two best options are King and Swift, although I've heard a lot about RCE blacks as well. My issue with RCE and Swift is that I'll still need a spacer to retain stock height.
For now my next upgrade will be new lower ball joints up front, as they have started to make some noise after the strut install. I'm looking at Whiteline's KCA313 front roll centre adjustment kit but I'm not sure if it's designed for lowered vehicles only or if it will work with stock suspension. It will certainly be cheaper to find a stock replacement ball joint and only replace parts as needed, but I wonder how much of a difference in handling the Whiteline kit would make. Anyone who's got this kit feel free to give me your opinion.
Next up for mods, Kartboy shifter bushings f/r and maybe a tranny mount. Then it's time to start saving for some big engine work as my timing belt will be due soon and not a cheap job.