i want in on all this "one-year old thread" action....lol the civic is a great platform car. you want your civic to be show worthy? go buy some parts...slap them on. wnat your civic to handle? go buy some parts...slap them on. wnat your civic for speed? go buy some parts...slap them on.
what i am saying is this....it is a great platform car. try getting your renault/metro/neon to do what the civic has done "before". "before" equals.....before evryone hopped on the bandwagon afetr fast and furious.
now there are an abundance of performance parts for any car....including camry....trucks....etc.
civics are slow with no mods....but they do very well stock in autocrossing.

autocrossing is for fast drivers.....drag racing is for fast cars.
go ahead and mod your alero.......try to find parts...good luck.
civic is a great platform for whatever your trying to build...hands down