vx has a different kind of vtec, called vtec-e. instead of normal vtec, which runs 2 low speed lobes that are the same lift and duration, along with the third high lift vtec cam, vtec-e has 3 separate cam profiles. below 2500rpm, when vtec is not engaged, one of the lobes is a regular low speed profile, while the other is almost round, and barely lifts the valve at all, its open just enough to prevent fuel from pooling on the backside of the valve, this promotes a swirl condition in the combustion chamber, that allows it to run extremely lean. after 2500rpm, the vtec engages and a normal profile lobe is engaged, and the engine returns to stoichiometric a/f ratio. it also has specialized intake runners that promote high speed air flow at low rpm, but severly chokes the engine at high rpm. im not sure if that ecu can be reprogramed to make it work to make hp, the code, fuel map, and ignitin timing changes would need to be so extensive that you might as well start with a blank ecu and go from there. and for the cost of the computer reprogram, cam grind, tranny swap, and other work needed to make it have some hp, you can get a good d16z6 motor and tranny, for which there are lots of aftermarket parts for. im not a huge fan of swaps, usually with the money spent you can have a faster car using your stock motor with a turbo or what have you, but this motor is just too heavily engineered with economy hardware to truly work as a performance engine. besides, you can usualy find z6's for free if you go to shops that do swaps, many times they will just throw the engines out. or even if you have to pay for it, there is so many out there that the cost should be minimal.