Honda makes great engines, , had a little economy version of the vtec system (vtec-e) on my 1.5i civic, i think this is where some people will get confused, vtec doesnt necessarily mean high performance, as there's loads of vtec designs out there for different purposes

as for driving them, you need to keep them on the boil in the highest part of the rev range to get the best from them, and that might not be what certain people like on a road car, some people like to feel that surge of a turbo spooling up from 4k rpm rather than trying to keep a peaky 4cyl at 8k in the rev range

each to their own, i like both....but then again i'm not blinkered or have die hard allegiance to a brand, if someone makes a good product i'll give em the thumbs up whoever they are.