I think the answer to any reliable bottom end, would be spending the money to get it balanced, when in the crvtec case, its worth it, but the ls/vtec (1.8L) you might as well get a b18c1, the price of the entire lsvtec + balancing + building (if you want) will run just as much as a gsr I think.

I have a friend with a crvtec and his is daily driven, balanced to 10k, 84mm pistons (for 2.0 vtec), etc. b20/vtec is a mean setup, and just as good as the next if you do it right.