I have to agree with you here Ti, that the No VII is probably never really needed in most applications, but because it’s “there”, it’s intriguing. However, HPL already uses the minimum amount of VIIs in their “regular” oils, and Dave has conveyed they use the latest and greatest shear-stable VIIs, so I concur: the No VII is a niche oil in an already tiny niche (oils that exceed the needs of nearly every automotive engine on the planet), and there are some white papers from academia that imply a small amount of VII is actually beneficial for friction reduction.
I do use the No VII in my EcoBoost (and 2.0 DI Duratec) to give the turbos and cam phasers the very best protection, but Dave did tell me it’s not really warranted; their regular oils already provide more protection than needed (see
@wwillson and his incredible OCIs on the CK4 series oils). I guess if you really boil it down, I buy and use it to show my appreciation to HPL for blending up essentially bespoke oils for our group of oil nerds.
TL;DR: I trust whatever equipment I’m putting HPL in to Dave’s recommendations- he’s obviously got a vested interest in making sure his customers are satisfied and protected, so he’s not going to sell you short on the recommendation, but he’s also not going to sell you a more expensive oil than needed.
Happy customers’ word of mouth is by far the most effective advertising plan.