you'll definitely notice a difference with the strut brace - i did.
and the lower control arm bushes (superpro i think) and castor bushes all make the handling/turn-in just that little bit better
about the only thing i have left to add are the front swaybar bushes - for the usual 'subframe' reason.
i'd say go for 16's, as the increase in performance (as a general term) is the worth the only slight difference in ride over 15s
and i'd suggest looking on fordlaser.com - there's a few BPTs/halfcuts for sale on there at the moment - for less that that