Welcome to the forum.
VTEC always engages at 3400RPMs, but if the engine is experiencing a heavy load it'll force it to engage as low as 2300RPMs.
http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-i...completed.html
(^ Topic backing forced VTEC comment up)
The hard shifts are normal but can be prevented most of the time if you lift up off the throttle a little then shift with the upshift paddle. I usually am in "S" shifting manually between 2.5-3k when doing this. If you like to downshift with the paddles but don't like the lurch/jerk, you can blip the throttle right after pulling the downshift paddle which will the engine to rev match sooner and minimize the lurch/jerk.