I think they are a joy to work on considering some of the horror stories about eurpean cars (like Peugeot's and stuff) and certain other jap cars (V6 mitsis for one)
My mate has a nice way of puting it: the EJ engine bay was designed with the 20 minute engine lift in mind, while stuck in a paddock in the middle of nowhere.
I don't know the validity of such a comment, but i think it has subaru written all over it