My car has a similar story. I've owned it for 10 years now and have no regrets. I spent the first 8 years spending all my money on school but now that I have a reasonable income I can finally modify it to really make it mine. There's no harm in modernizing these cars, I do my mods with modernization in mind. 8k/6k coilovers stiffen it up a fair bit but nothing unbearable, pretty normal ride for a modern car. 225/45/17s and 235/45/17s on 17x8 +30 rims sit right at the edge of the body lines at -1.5 degrees of camber and look modern but not ricey AND compared to old technology huge sidewall 205s they make a HUGE different in handling but still have enough sidewall to ride nicely. Rebuilding the front suspension and steering is actually quite cheap and VERY easy so now the feel in the steering wheel is amazingly nice(the back end is next but a bit more pricey).

I'll stop before I make a wall of text, but I highly recommend doing tasteful mods because these cars can feel incredibly good. Not that there's anything wrong with drift missiles but I'm going the road less traveled and loving it.