Originally posted by combustion gsr in a 96? also i figured that if i held the throttle open it would allow fuel to flow
It's more a longevity safety thing Honda does on a lot of their DOHC VTEC engines. By running rich, there's less chance of detonation at high RPM, which saves the engine at the expense of power. 9 times out of 10, you have to lean out the fuel curve in order to make peak power on a given DOHC VTEC engine.
Nothing to worry about really. You could probably stop some of the smoke with a new cat if you're really worried about it.