Many people don't know what vtec really is. Have any of you actually taken apart an entire vtec head and observed it? It is pretty cool to see how simple it really is, which is what makes it so genius. Like they said the solenoid is just an on off switch. All it really does is move a pin and activates a rod that shifts some other pins over the locks your rockers together. By doing this, it allows that large center lobe on your cams to work its magic. When you are out of vtec, that center lobe does nothing to the valves. In fact the center rocker just sort of moves up and down freely without having any impact on the valves.
Vtec itself is really just a way of letting you have an economical car, but still be able to have a sport feel when you want it. Having a large lift cam and a small lift cam at the same time. If it was solely a power thing, why would there be vtec killer cams? Vtec killer cams make your standard cam lobes the same size as your vtec lobe. Essentially making it in vtec all the time. However, having the smaller lobes also helps with lower rpm performance. Which is why the variable valve set up is very handy.
But yes, they are all right, adding an aftermarket solenoid is useless, but sexy.
