Integra or CRX?

I need some opinions. What do you think is better in terms of cost-effectiveness, relaibility, performance, and aftermarket/modifiability: an '85-91 CRX or a '94-97 Integra? I don't have a lot of money right now, but by second semester I hope to have around $3500. It's hard to find a good Integra for that price, but it's also hard to find a CRX that isn't completely modded out or beat up. Appreciate some info.

CRX pros
- costs less
- can be pretty reliable
- decent performance, nothing great without an engine swap or heavy mods
- moddability ... lots of aftermarket for these cars. Definitley get an 88 or newer shoud you get one
CRX cons
- its still old as hell
- some people dont respect these cars as much as they should
- no backseat

Integra pros
- can be still pretty reliable, wont have as many miles on it as most of the crx's you find
- performance - fast right out of the box
- moddability, lots available.

Integra cons
- costs more
- GSR requires premium gas
- shittier gas mileage

With your budget I would go for a CRX ... but also consider a 90-93 integra ... I would be driving one of those if I could have found a nice one at the price I wanted when I was lookin for cars.

Final note - take your time when buying a car, dont rush a purchase, always try to talk the seller down in price, and be willing to not buy local and look around in the greater area around you for a car.

Thanks for the thorough response, Melt. I was also thinking how cool it would be to find a 90-93 civic hb, si or not, and build a sleeper. In the newest issue of SCC, two old civic hatchbacks competing for a spot in the Ulitmate Streetcar Challenge run 10s and 11s at over 500 hp each. They look like crap on the outside, but I'd love to see the look on some guy's face when I smoke his Viper or Supra. I know I'd have to pour a lot of money into it to get it to that point, though.