What? No, just no. Hell, if anything, DOHC has more work to do because it has two cams to spin. The different between a SOHC and DOHC is the number of cams, that is! One is not superior to the other. That said, it also depends on who built the engine. For Honda's, SOHC engines are installed in their commuter car (the Civic) that is more concerned with 100k miles reliability and good milage than it is with power. The DOHC engines are used in their higher performance cars (the Integra's) that are somewhat more interested in performance. If Honda built a 1.8L SOHC VTEC engine with the same aggressive cams that make power to 8000 rpm, same aggressive fuel tuning and high compression and the same aggressively geared transmition, it would be an even match for a GS-R's B18C1.

SOHC's actually have an advange of being lighter and cheaper (there's one less cam to worry about) but tend to be less exotic and exciting sounding. Same basic concept as higher octane gas, sounds more powerful and exciting, but in reality, isn't anything special. Seeya.