Engine prices?

[Wanderer]

A 145hp engine with 178nm tied to a open diff gearbox will not be faster in any way or situation than a b18c with typically 200hp and 182nm with a lsd transmission and shorter FD. Unless you can show some evidence ?
Cheaper yes - but just not as fast.

Uhh, check Honda-tech. This is known quantity already that has been known for at least a decade. Gearing plus torque is how you get the most out of any setup. HP is just a functional calculation derived from torque. On the same setup, the B20 will always be faster than the smaller displacement B-series.