first off...my $$ would be on the ion, not the new civic ex. the new civic has way less torque, and way less hp. 200lbs would not make enough difference to make up for that much power. the new civic si might be a closer race, but a lot of people have trouble getting the new si's into the 15's stock. now...the older si's would be a good race. they have about 15hp more, less torque (i think about 10ft-lbs less) and weigh about the same. the 99-00 si would prolly take the car up top. i don't see why you're calling it "mighty vtec". in the ex, anyways, it's not too impressive. there's also not too much of a difference between the dx, lx, and ex. the si is a huge step up though.