I've heard that an h22 hatch of this generation will dance around in the 12 second range with no mods. Is this true?

no.

is that even close to true?

no. You'll hit low 14s, possibly high 13s. No way in hell you'll even get close to 12s stock.

Ah, thanks for the input. Low 14s still not bad for a project that easy and inexpensive.

You could hit mid to low 13's with LSD and slicks. First time I watched my friends race at a local track, there was a '96+ hatch with an h22a swap with only a CAI running high 13's (full interior too). It was the first time I used my camcorder at night, so unfortunately the video didn't come out at all. So mid to low 13's in a lighter 5th gen hatch wouldn't be out of range.