the handling goes to shit for a few reasons
1 the weight
2 the positioning
its not just a matter of the added 70lbs
the positioning of an H series engine in a civic ends up putting much more weight in front of the axles
this makes the car nose heavy
this makes the car plow badly (lots of understeer)
this can be compensated for somewhat with upgraded suspension (basicly it will be fine for daily driving)
but it will still plow like a whore at the cars cornering limits
this makes it suck moose balls for anything requiring hard cornering (road course, autocross, corner carving on back roads, etc...)
moving the battery to the rear will not help much if at all (the battery is on the firewall, well behind the axles already)
a CF hood will not help much (you are only removing a few pounds from in front of the axles)
a thicker front sway bar will just make the front plow more
a strut bar will help the front feel a little more solid but will not help much with the understeer
this has been argued over several times .... basicly it comes down to how you plan to use the car
