I had the pre facelift 1.4 S and it was the most teliable car ive ever had. Think i had her for 5 years? Maybe longer.
Power wise it wont ever be the most powerful, and just to make the same power as the standard B18 VTi (MB6) will take a lot of mods and money. Easier to fit a bigger engine but then that's not the point, you want to personalize/modify what you've got.
So, first mods would be:
Air filter - K&N etc should have one to fit.
Stainless exhaust - On a 1.4, probably best to go for a 2.5 inch as any bigger will probably drown the engine. I've had three powerflow systems, good fit and nice sound without being over the top. Other brands also good such as scorpion etc.
Brakes: first stop new oem discs and uprated pads. EBC for discs and pads is a good choice. Not sure what's available to upgrade the discs and calipers to bigger (cant remember off the top of my head what bigger Honda discs etc fit, but we have a topic in the forum with that info)
Might be able to get after market upgrades, but bear in mind cost!
Bodywork: limited to the vtis kit if you can find one (try our trader 10000RPM on here as he may have them still in stock or can get you it. Other than that its ebay or a breakers yard) or there were some quite over the top (ugly depending on your view! Lol) bodykits made for them during the late 90's. Othr option is to go custom. You can graft the front wing side vents from a MGZS v6 onto your civic for example.
Wheels: skies the limit, all depends on what styles you like (and how much you want to spend). Just make sure the stud pattern is 4x100 (vtis are 4x113). For the ET and bore size check out the technical section of the forum, all in there mate.
Brand new, wheels are expensive so might be worth deciding on the ones you want then hunt for them 2nd hand, unless they are within budget brand new. Always go for new tyres though as you dont know what bumps/kerbings theyve had and every kerbing damages/weakens the side wall. One of our members fitted a set of 2nd hand wheels/tyres, and a week later had a blowout on the motorway at speed. Luckily he had minor injuries (although was knocked out), but the car was a complete write off after smacking the central barrier.
Again, for tyre sizes check out the technical section bud.
If you have a big enough budget, the D series responds well to turbo charging. Been quite a few turbo D series engines with decent power gains!
Enjoy your civic and keep us up to date with the car/mods. Oh, and good luck with the test!
Dave