[Eyeman]

The stock suspension on these cars is floaty, so yours is probably not that much worse.

This site was very active with modders back around 2010. Many used lowering springs or coilovers to get a better "stance". When you go lower you'll gain some camber, but generally more rubbing just because you are closer to the fenders.

The simplest fix that might be an option for you is "pulling your pins" on your front struts. If your pins have not been pulled you should be able to gain as much camber from this as from the M control arms. Some rub more, some less with the control arms.

For sure 8.5" wheels with et40 are aggressive. Most of us (my stats are in my signature) had wheels in this range. Like you said, spacers will make it worse, you only want to use them if rubbing the strut.

I agree, with an 10+ year old car that you want to refresh, why not rework the suspension. I've been reasonably satisfied with my setup but I wish I had went substantially stiffer and had did the subframe bushing while doing all the work. I'll probably go through and do both in the next few years. My car is in the 140k mile range now. I think the regular seller here that is most suspension savvy was HPA Autosport or something like that. They were always recommending stiff Swift springs and other components.

If you pull your pins but plan other work later, I'd not worry about a new alignment. That is the struggle especially if you go with adjustable coilovers, getting everything aligned and somewhat corner balanced etc. You'll also struggle with alignment shops if they are not mod savvy. Toe in combination with camber is what really eats up tires, so you want to stay on the low end or even a tad lower than the recommended toe settings. I have 2 deg or front and rear camber and both my front and rear tires wear out similar at like 30k miles.

Good luck, there should be plenty of old threads where you can read more.