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This is the first import ive attempted to build and want some advice on the suspension. To lower it should I just use lowering springs or do coilovers all the way around? Want to upgrade from the 14 inch steel wheels to aftermarket 17's also. Any advice? Its a stock 2000 Civic EX coupe.

 
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Most people agree that some good coilovers are the way to go. The deciding factor between those and lowering springs is how much you're willing to invest. A really good set of coilovers can cost upwards of $1000, while springs and shocks usually cost a lot less. Remember to use a camber kit either way!
As for increasing wheel diameter, you may have to curl the fender lips in, especially if you're gonna lower your ride too.

 
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I ran 17 205 40 tires with a stock ride height and it filled the wheel well nicely. I don't know how well the would fit once your car is dropped. The consensus these days is 16s are the largest you want to run on civics due to performance issues relating to excelaration and stopping issues cause by running the larger wheel. I likes the way my 17s looked so I ran them regardless for a year till I had bent them all and decided to run 16s this year.

Anyway.... Make sure u are running quality suspension. If you drop your car spend the money on non eBay products. The camber kits are made from cheap Chinese steel tend to be flawed and brittle and I have seen numerous posts where people complain about their lcas snapping that were purchased on eBay. They same is true of the coils from what I read eBay adjustable coils will get you low but have u bouncing as u role down the road.

Currently I run stock height with 16s and 45sidewall and I think it looks pretty good. I don't think I would change it considering the money it takes to do a proper drop and what else I could buy with that money. Just one guy opinion. Anyway let us know what you end up doing!

 
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Thanks for the advice, I believe I will stick with a lower size wheel. Maybe 16s or even 15's and go ahead and invest in a nice set of coilovers. It may take a month or so put I will post pictures when complete.

 
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you can see some informational threads in my signature

 
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Let us know what you end up with I always like to see what wheels people are considering. Are you think new or used? Do you have a budget for wheels or style preference? I've run 14 inche integra snowflakes those are my snow tires I painted them white and put Honda badges on the center caps. Then I had 15 inche Ls webs I sold those. And bought some 16 and 17 inch motegi wheels. The 17s are really big so I mostly run the 16s. I wish I could post pics of the different setups. But let us know what ideas u have.

 
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Nowadays, you can get a good coilover set for cheap. I've heard pretty good things about the Tein Street Basis coilovers (basically beefed up older street basics), and on thmotorsports.com, you can nab 'em for $527 shipped. They allow a drop of up to ~3 inches. If you want adjustable dampering, Tein offers the Street Advance coilovers (beefed up super streets) for $611 shipped from the same site. I'd personally throw an extra $178 their way for the pillowball upper mounts, but that's just me.

Links for your pleasure:
Street basis
Street Advance
Pillowball Upper mounts

I swear, I'm not endorsed or paid by Tein, I just really like their stuff.

It's not quite dependent on the wheel diameter, but the rubber you wrap them in. If you increase wheel diameter properly, you shouldn't really change overall wheel/tire diameter to make a huge difference. Tire width and wheel offset, if anything, will be the ultimate deciding factor. Dropped ~2" on my EM2, I'm able to run 17" ET42 rims with 215/45-17's with no rubbing issues. OP, use miata.net tire calculator to find out which tire size will match your OEM overall tire diameter the best (also keeping an eye on how much it'll change your speedometer). The best tire size choice will have a close to 0% change in speedometer reading.


edit: OP, don't go raceland coilovers. There's a lot of mixed feelings about them on the internet (and a lot of horror stories where they catastrophically fail while driving), so if I were you, I just wouldn't risk it, no matter how good the price may be.