I would lower it a bit, stick on an rs/xr2i kit with the front bumper swage line smoothed over, maybe a MK5 rear Zs back bumper, some nice rims, FRST interior and a nice back box, small but shweet.

Little bit of colour coding on the mirrors and remove the side strips.

Kits can be cheap to pick up, spraying is a doddle, easily down yourself with a little pratice and some rattle cans - just do a bit of reading up on how to first.

All of the above could be done yourself on a bugdet. No need to max power it or be spening huge sums on mods, just some simple stuff to make it look meatier, then in time sell up and buy something with more grunt.