Yes, I also believe consumer engines are sold with a lot of commercial bs talk just to sell an engine. We drivers want to have a factory tuned so we do get factory tuned printed on te box and the cooling head. We want it hand picked so we will pay some more for just printing "hand picked" on the box. You want ceramic bearings, you will get 90 dollar ceramic bearings!
Even today it is impossible to sell a top engine without a silicone insert in the crankshaft because a lot of drivers do believe it is giving performance....
Finally the real performance is for the most part determed by the timings and the choice of materials, not in fancy cuts, ceramic bearings, lighter heads etc. but these are the tuned things people can see and so believe.
But there are real selected engines where the P/S set is matched giving a better result in performance.
In the attachement a sleeve of an WC team engine, photo is shot on the 2007 WC in Cordoba and was opened for maintenence. Interesting to see that there is nothing special to see and still these were one of the fastest on the track.