i tend to agree, but it's not £200 a year on tax, it's £200 MORE tax a year - in fact now it's £315 for pre-March 06, and £540 for post-March 06 - so £225 more.
if you need to buy 4 tyres then that's £765 vs £990 - for exactly the same car mechanically, its certainly worth bearing in mind if you are looking to buy.

It irritates me paying the top bracket for my BM but then i dislike tax

they are cheap cars to run imo, assuming you are not 15 or doing 20k miles (but then i am 40s and do 1-2k so would say that)

I’ve had both an 02 car and a facelift 04.

The 02 was standard, it had 80k when I got it and 111k when we parted company. In that time I had a sticking valve stem oil seal and other than a TCT that was pretty much it mechanicaly. It ran very well, burned oil in line with expectations and was very quiet.

The 04 had 60 ish k and let go at around 70k. It was the least reliable car I have ever owned. You pays your money and all that!

The driving differences were as Lovegroova says, the earlier car was a bit pointy and could be a handful, especially in the wet but it was a real blast to drive. The feral nature of it was exciting and I had an understanding of it like few cars I’ve owned. The later car was slightly softer and as a result was a bit easier to handle and ultimately a little quicker as the power could be applied sooner. And the last big difference is the VTEC crossover point. In pre-facelift cars it was a very definite step at 6k, in post-facelift cars it starts at around 5.5k and is a progressive transition.

As has already been said, there were updates to suspension settings as the years passed, each revision getting softer until the last on (08 from memory) when Honda reverted to the 02 settings. The other thing the 04 facelift bought to the party was a redesigned rocker cover and oil jet combo that lead to a significant reduction in oil consumption. Have a look at the FAQ for the full MY year differences if you want the full gen.

Which would I go for? Whilst I really did love the 02, it’d have to be the facelift car. Don’t get me wrong it was still a way off being domesticated but it was just a better all round proposition. Add to that the (subjective opinion I know but...) better looks of the 04 and that’s what I’d go for.