[Double Phister]

Sooooo.... I'm starting to look at suspension upgrades for the STi and don't know where to start.
My rears have started making a bunch of noise and I can feel something sticking back there when I come to a stop and everything settles.

I'm not looking the ultimate setup but I'd like to feel like I got some improvement. I looked at tein's website for about .0000000001 seconds and realized 1. I don't know what I'm doing, 2. their site sucks cuz I feel lost.

I'm not concerned with autoX classes.
My car is a daily driver.
I don't mind a firm ride.
The car will see snow a couple of times a year.
Reduction in fender gap would be a plus. Not sure if that is an issue for the snow. If so then I guess adjustable ride height would let me ride higher in the winter.
Something like an EDFC is nice so I can attempt to make the ride less harsh when I have passengers who don't get it. But I'm not stuck on Tein either.

What improvements can be expected?
Part of me wants something with crazy adjustability. But a more reasonable part of me (seems to have come with age) says I don't need all of that nor will I take the time to dial it in.

Any recomendations?
$1500-$2500 is my ballpark budget.