Lowering 2nd gen Legacy?

[Emjayex]

Hey everyone!

Im very much wanting to kill my wheel gap on my 1998 Legacy Outback. (I know its an outback and technically should probably be lifted)

So some info on the car, 162k miles. On stock shocks with sg forester wheels (current snow setup). I plan to get some decent wheels and tires after winter (will rock the ride height for the winter) and maybe lower my car somehow. I am only going to be dd the car with a side of backroads and occasional spirited driving. I do often have friends and family that will ride in the back so I cant go too low. What are the best ways I can lower my car on a budget? 

Ive been looking at some budget coilovers, 02-07 wrx shocks or 04 STI shocks. If I did rough math correctly, it should lower my car about 2-2 and a half inches. Other than that im not too sure what else I can do. Dont want to go lowering springs because Im not sure if its worth sacrificing my current shocks (in case I want to sell my car in the far future). And also my budget is pretty limited. Maybe 600 max. Nicest coilovers I might buy, and am very interested in is the FactionFab F-spec coilovers. For mods, I dont want to spend more than what Ive paid for it. Itll be a fun first car/budget build. Any tips?

And also, any cheap/cheaper mods you guys think are worth it? 

Thanks for takin the time to read this, many questions and I wanted to give as much info as I could