I have ONE very sensitive 902 battery, and I loathe that thing. Once left it in my pocket and pulled it out only to find an empty cart and my hand reeked of 9Y4 (GRR!). The autos are ok, I guess. I do love my manuals. They def last the longest.
To answer the OP's question: yes, the 902 does hit better than the SideSho. The 902 SS (low resistance) atty produces the best TH of all, but I like my SideSho SS atty because it gives decent hit and awesome FLAVOR... the Lux comes with one 902 standard and one 902 SS atty. You WILL notice a difference in the two. Lux would be the best battery life evar, with 902 and SideSho being very close in batt life (I think my Sideshos actually last a little bit longer, but probably because I'm always using my 902s)
You can interchange SideSho/Lux/902 batteries with whatever atty/cart/cartomizer works best for you.