Yes, a stock 02 will handle well. Improvements can be made nonetheless. Urethane is good, but some consider the ride to be too harsh for street use (depends largely on your tolerance level for small bumps). Personally, I think urethane is a must for sway bar end links at the very least. I'm going to be going to urethane trailing arm mounts at some point as well. If you're really concerned about building a streetable car that people won't complain about riding in and that may actually leave you with two functional kidneys, choose your shocks carefully, stick with (new) rubber bushings, and you should be fine.

is there any real benefit to lowering an 02 3/4-1" with aftermarket springs? would a person not be better off with stock height springs with an increased spring rate and the wider tires that the higher ride height would allow. It is my understanding that the 02 was a pretty good handling car to begin with. Are urethane bushings that much of an advantage over stock rubber. I am planning to build my car for moderate street performance and occasional autocross action.
HR