It is difficult to "ragg" a vetc engine, they are designed for high revs. Something that seems to be lost on many drivers.
I am with 'Deeps' on this. The vtec engine is whatever you want it to be, a docile very flexible engine happy at low revs or a snappy revving beast giving adequate performance. all this is courtesy of the variable valve timing and engine management system.
I think that the CVT version is the most pleasing to drive as its response to wide throttle openings is almost instantaneous and will easily reach 6K revs on full throttle and using the 'S' mode to preempt overtaking moves will take the engine to 6.5K ( the start of the red line). Doing this will not cause the engine to explode, Honda run their engines on test beds at max revs for hours. Yes the engine gets noisy but not for long as the gear changes up'. The effect on fuel consumption is negligible, you are not driving like this all the time.
If you want a low revving engine then buy a diesel.
Vic.
When doing tests on their engine designs Honda are famous for running their engines flat out for 24hrs, if anything breaks they improve it and run it until they have a product that will run for 24hrs straight - we get the benefit of the reliability this produces and then you get Bimbo testers from the Guardian et al scared to rev over 2K.
100 ponies is plenty for a car the size of a Jazz, look at the S2000, 240 ponies / 9000 revs and as reliable as a Swiss watch.
Diesels are for lorries and tractors, but comparing turbo Diesels with NA petrol is not helpful. Incidentally using a Turbo on a petrol engine (and a diesel) puts more 'charge' into the cylinder - that is more air and more petrol which is compressed more and you get a bigger bang, more torque so can rev lower to get same power.