^ You will see those cars for about a month. Then the engines go boom.
And the last time i checked, the DSM's i was refering to were Eclipses, talons and lasers. And I also said w/ an equal amount of money put into them. Your "friends" are we we call "ricers". And just so you know, the EVO has the SAME engine as all turbocharged eclipses/talons/lasers. Plunk down 5 grand on a DSM, and i'll be smoking almost any civic you wanna put up.
Face it man, honda's are simply not meant to be "built" cars, they are not meant for speed, they are meant to get groceries. You want a fast grocery getter, get a galant vr-4!
One more thing FWD sucks.
However, to answer the original posters question about mits reliablity, be prepared for general maintence, and be prepared to get your hands dirty. However, it's worth it, the sound of a big20g spooling would make you orgasm.