Originally Posted by fastball

Well, it's different depending on the engine. Some are tuned for high performance, others are tuned for good driveability.

Any Prelude with VTEC is much more exciting to drive than an Accord with VTEC (unless that Accord happens to be the 2003 - present EX V6 with a 6 speed manual). Same goes for pretty much all Acuras. But if you are driving a 4 cylinder Accord or Civic (not Si), VTEC isn't all that spectacular performance wise..... HOWEVER, what VTEC does for those cars is provide good drivability for an engine, which, without VTEC, is a very efficient but annemic drivetrain.

Any variable cam operation (whether it's Toyota's VVT-i, BMW's VANOS, or Honda's VTEC) is basically the same thing. Adding enhanced driveability and performance without sacrificing reliability or efficiency.