100% of people are always like "oh i don't want to lower my car because it'll ride harsh. anything more harsh than stock would suck."
but then they forget to mention they've got 120k miles on their stock suspension and even replacing the struts with ****ty monroe's would be a fantastic leap in the right direction. lowering springs are not a terrible ride so long as your suspension is actually in good shape.
From personal experience kyb gr-2 struts do not last long. So avoid them. I have heard good things about monroes though.