Debates similar to this one have occured on Anandtech many times, but I do not remember seeing a thread like this for months. What it comes down to is people have different tastes. American cars have had a history of less reliablity, although they have gotten much better. They also traditionaly have a more sturdy "feel." But of course this varies by model, year, etc. But to say Honda beats GM is oversimplifying.
Personally I drive a Subaru. I asked for a WRX, but I got a Legacy. Oh well. Prior to this car, I had only driven American cars, all cars with different generations of the GM 3800 and 3100 engines(two engines found in about 15 different GM cars.) So I have had expeirnce with both American and Japanese. And I think that neither is ulitmately better than the other. For instance, last time I was at a stoplight in my parents OLDSMOBILE, I beat out a Civic si with intake and exhuast to 70mph. Now I am not trying to say this si is a bad car, in fact, I think quite the contrary, its a nice car with decent power for the money. Point being, honda's dont automaticly beat GMs. They are good to tune, relatively cheap and reliable, but whens the last time Japan came out with a car like the viper, corvette, cobra. Some people like american car's attributes, some like Japans. thats it
So forget american and japanese...it's all about Europeans!!! BMWs Mercedes, MGs, and exotics are nice, but expensive of course. But now you can enter the european performance market w/o dropping a ton of cash. 1.8t engine (180hp) is prime example. 17 grand plus 200 on a chip nets you car with 200+hp that go 6 flat. you also get the european feel for the road, and stiff body that true driving enthusiants can appreciate.