well ui guess its a must that i must comment... owning and maintaining an astina for 7 years and using it as a daily driver.. with a very good tune up and moderate driving u can get around 10 max per a liter... abuot handling i dont know if its me.. but the astina seems to be grounded on corners a little but more than the CRX that i drove.. think its because of the weight factor.. astina is heavier..
about the parts.. yes some parts are harder to find, but so is the CRX parts.. but since the astina shares a common platform with the popular 323 i found it to be ok... and the popup lights hardly fail... face it the car i have now is 20 years old and i have never replaced the headlights..
CRX is lighter and yes should be faster than a normal astina... handling i am little effi on that.. guess u cant compare since mine is a little lower and the tires are a little wider...
but sharky its up to u... again the differnce would be acuatlly on the seating... and yes suspention is a little better on the astina as it was meant as a family car..