Agreed, your friend should mod whatever makes him happy. The mention of a mustang seems unnecessary as I do not recall beating mustangs being his stated purpose.
The point is, civics are civics and mustangs are mustangs. If your game is to have a quick ride for the drag strip, then mustangs will do the trick for less ... and so will a motorcycle. To
me, it's more *interesting* to see a full blown civic than mustang because I love seeing those little motors put out big numbers, not because they can beat mustangs at the drags (though I will admit that part of the fun to me is also in the comedy of seeing a little, unassuming car with tiny engine beat a sports car with a big engine ... one day, I will get my paws on a Ford RS200 Evo and beat a McLaren, knowing that I did it on 2 liters

)
Good luck and I hope you keep us posted on the progres. It will be interesting to see the end result!