Correct, especially if you were to lets say compare a Lotus Elise to a Chevy Suburban. When when you are comparing cars that are in the same class and the same price bracket, generally more horse power = better performance.

Drive the TSX head to head with IS250. Drive the TL head to head with G35 or IS350. Drive Accord head to head with new Avalon. Drive the RL head to head with GS430 or M45 or heck even the M35. You will quickly discover than Hondas have no balls whatsoever.

And the bad news for Honda is that Toyota and Nissan are really beefing up their HP. Honda on the other hand got slapped silly with the new SAE ratings - most manufacturers went up in HP and Honda went down.