looks a cheongster is born eh...
i dunno much about cars but heres my 2 cents.
1. SIR confirm win MR. ask around in car forums, no doubt SIR is the winner. honda got more things to upgrade too, and aftermarket parts are more readily available. so if u are looking for pure horses, SIR is the choice. on paper though, the MR is 175hp and the SIR is 170hp.
2. MR insurance is classifed under turbo/high performance category. that makes it a pretty pricey car to drive, insurance speak. last time i heard insurance for MR is around 3-4k. wonder why tat is, a non turbo car under this type of insurance cover. SIR on the other hand is under saloon i think... haha...
3. MR comes with full kit but SIR dont have. small thing actually, somehow civics can be simply lowered with a front lip to get that fierce look.
4. SIR more expensive than MR. i am surprise you can find SIR cheaper than MR... depreciation for SIR manual should be higher than MR manual. unless u compared a SIR auto with MR manual.
Conclusion - i go for the SIR!
disclaimer: as i said i dunno much about cars and stand to be corrected. if i said anything wrong, pls correct me...