My best time in my all motor 98 base was a 14.4 with full interior and 18s, and thats after a shitload of money was dropped in. I'd say this if he wants to leave the car stock and have the best pick up and go, passing, handling then its the prelude hands down. But if he wants to be a mod whore, let the truth be told, he could make the the integra alot faster than the lude with the same amount of money (i.e. swap gsr head/or longblock, turbo, etc). The truth is that integs and civics are so common with a huge aftermarket that mods for them are a lot cheaper than mods a lude, and more of them available (ex: comptech icebox, JR racing S/C, see how many bolt on turbos you can find for the H22 compared to even the d16!) its simple supply and demand, not to mention how interchangable everything is between the civ and integ. you'll have to do major weight reduction on the prelude to get it on par with an integ with the same hp. Well that being said I haven't owned an integ, but have driven all 4 generations including the type-S, excluding the type R. I've owned 3rd, 4th, and 5th gen preludes and they are amazing cars. The 4th gen interior was so cool, people would get this mezmerized look when they rode in my car. Performance wise the prelude and GSR are very similar stock, until the end of 3rd gear where the prelude just pulls on it.
But like I said above this would be my choice:
1.Stock enjoyable car: Prelude
OR
2.Mod whore street machine: Integra/yes even the LS
But no matter which you choose, you'll enjoy the cars 100 times more if they are manual. :thumbup: