Couple of CHEAP options that will suffice instead of 5 pt...
One is to get one of those auto X "locks" you put on the seatbelt to keep it from recoiling, the other, recommended by last years 3rd place national STS2 (and first place miata STS2) driver recommends just twisting the seatbelt a few times before you click it in so you can cinch it up. and it works for _her_
I know you're in street prepared, you may be beyond that point...
and convince yourself you don't need to spend money on your car year one. You proly wont need to till year two, and any spare money you get you should dump into tires to keep you stuck and cool water to keep your head cool.
yeah the bushings might help but ask yourself why you're noticing they're bad. My guess is you need to smooth out your inputs and it will be less problematic. Let me add also, I've been driving on the street with all seasons the last few months and testing and playing with the car and that taught me a lot of things the decent tires (hankook rs2's as azenis aren't available for my car) were masking.
I need two things year one. Repeat this over and over to yourself in the car:
1. Look Ahead.
- you cant do ANYTHING with what you just passed, or even what you're approaching. Look ahead, plan for what's coming
2. Turn early.
- you're turning too late, its too safe, the cones won't hurt. Smack em! and once you learn how early to turn just remember to think about the rear corner of your car hitting the cone. TRY to hit the cone with the BACK of your car.
If you're top tier and a real quick learner add to the above two:
3. SMOOTH. Smooth acceleration, SMOOTH braking, SMOOTH turning. Consistent, easy, aggressive, but intentional movements. Don't oversteer, dont brake too early. SMOOTH. keep your speeds as high and as consistent as possible.
I would add to Mike's comments, dont worry about heel - toe. Try to do your shifting in a straight line and then "who cares" how smooth it is. launch at 3-4k, redline, slam second in a straight line and live there the rest of the race.