Ok I have a 03 with a D17A1. so I know it's not easy, and I'm balling on a budget. What is the perfered engine swap or mod?
It's really not a great platform.
The chassis isn't great. The suspension is sub-par.
The D17 itself isn't really worth dumping money into.
And since the chassis isn't great, swapping it out leaves you with a more powerful version of a subpar platform.
I'd recommend doing nothing to it, honestly.
Save up and change up/out to something more tuner-friendly, better platform, etc. That may mean downgrading in terms of years if you want to mod on a budget.