If I'm honest, as we sit here in 2017 I do think that the fear of shear is somewhat overdone. Do VIIs permanently shear? Yes, a little bit initially, but under normal driving conditions, nothing like as much as you might think. Can VIIs shear a lot? Yes, this is exactly what the European KO30 cycle shear test does but it only manages to do what it does by repeatedly blasting the oil through a fuel injector nozzle. Is anyone seriously suggesting this is representative of what happens to oil in an engine? When oils do shear, even in real life, the level of shear tends to depend on how much polymer the oil contains. The more polymer you have, the more likely you are to notice the effects of shear. So for example, shear might be very apparent in a Group I 10W40 but not particularly apparent in a Group II/II+ 5W20 oil. Finally it's worth noting the direction of travel on VIIs. OCP VIIs have sort of taken over the world and have largely displaced PMA VIIs (except in Japan) and HDS VIIs (apart from in very top-tier oils). OCPs are so much more resistant to thermally induced shear than PMA & HDS VIIs. Also, with the advent of things like dexos, VIIs are becoming more shear stable as the US moves closer to the European position. Hope this helps...