Duuuuuuuude, not that big a deal. We all know that import engines will last forever if taken care of, as will a common domestic motor like a chevy 350. What is amazing is how much more high tech the little imports are, I mean, they were putting dual overhead cams and multiple valves per cylinder in their cars lightyears before the big three were. I'm not a big fan of a small lightweight car with a tiny engine, even though it might be quick, but it is interesting to note that even the big displacement domestic motors are moving towards much more complicated engine designs. The 4.6/5.4 Ford motors that replaced the venerable 302 and 351 are both DOHC designs, and utilize 4 valves per cylinder, and the Chevy LS1 based engines 4.8/5.3/5.7/6.0 do nearly the same. Of course I'll always love my trusty 350, and you can generate an amazing amount of normally aspirated power with one, you aren't going to win any fuel economy awards with it either
Turbo 4cyl is becoming standard for performance imports, while a N/A v8 is still the standard for performance domestics... just imagine what would happen if we started seeing turbo or even twin turbo v8's come from the factory... I can smell the tire smoke from here