i wholeheartedly agree with your statement, "I don't know why anyone would have a civic (no off to owners) when they could have a prelude with 200 or so hp..." :sun: right now the craze is getting a 240 and an immediate engine swap. and it's a good foundation for a tuner car, being RWD and not too heavy, not like our ludes. preludes can be tuned, and can be made to be fast, and even though it's a honda, itjust doesn't come so easily coz the aftermarket support is nowhere near that of a civic. so you'll spend more time looking for parts, and more money buying and installing the parts. but in the end, the prelude is still better than any civic.
about the 4th gen, the si is actually the lesser of the two. less powerful H23 non-vtec 160hp. the VTEC model has 190hp. however, don't discount the H23, there's a lot of potential there. a lot of people prefer it to the H22 vtec in terms of turbocharging. the H22 speaks for itself on the other hand. if you have an H22, chances are somebody with a civic/accord/integra/prelude si wants it. (H23 is in the si models, the H22 is the VTEC models)
so if you're looking for an all out tuner car, i'd get the 240 over the prelude. but if you're looking for something with a little more class, a little more civility, with a fair amount of potential and an all around solid car, get the prelude. my $.02