well man, I've only driven one hatch, and it had an h22 swap in it. All I have to say is decide what you want in a car.. if you want a little pocket rocket/race car that will zip around uncomfortably but with the best power to weight ratio(which is basically what we are looking at here).. but it doesnt drive very nice imo. I like my prelude because its relatively light(its older than yours, mine is a fourth gen, 93) and it makes good power for its size. It has a wider wheelbase and drives like a nicer car than a civic, less of an "economy" feel.. it would definitley be the nicer daily driver.. if thats what you want. So let us know whether you want a race car or a car thats quick but is easier to drive on the street, thats what it comes down to. A fifth gen prelude is a little heavier than the fourth gen, and I feel like it has even less of a "sports car" feel to it. heres a comparison I wrote a long time ago:

"well my story is i wanted a fifth gen for my first car baaad. the engine the look of the front(slk but more stylish), i wanted it.
i tried out this old crappy 93 car to see what a "prelude" was like cause it was in my town for sale. we had some fun.... the car looked better and better... nice paint, clean title, 63k, 3800$, good condition all around clean interior---there was no reason to find another car! so i got it and after a while i test out a fifth gen base model. i wasnt impressed! i was expecting it to be better(i have an h23) and for some reason it didnt seem any faster. it was also too quiet for my taste(i didnt have any mods on my own for a fair comparison at the time) and it didnt seem much quicker. perhaps this is because of the fact that my motor's a freak and puts out more tq than it should according to the dyno. idk vtec didnt even seem all that great to me, im not a big top end guy.
call me crazy, but afterwards i got into my car and smiled as i started it up, knowing i had the real thing. it just seemed so much more focused and driver oriented, the newer one seemed too refined, like some newer cars today. that might seem sort of stupid, but i hate cars that dont have a sharp sporty edge to them, a car that lets you know all the time that you are driving a fast car...some of the newer cars are so quiet and smooth they just dont give you a sense of a true drivers car.. kind of like a new 911 vs an old 911, cars like the 911 sc or 930 were just more brutal to drive than their slippery smooth and quiet 2006 replacements."
most people probably dont agree w/ me, but thats my fifth gen/fourth gen comparison.