these are some long threds on fitfreaks, I skimmed through and even there it seems to be a confusion.
the article on temple says clearly that its a "real" vtec confirmed by honda, but that article is in rumors/news section and the author has no credibility score mentioned.
for a "real" vtec to work, it would need 3 camlobes for 3 rocker arms for 2 intake valves, the default profile of 2 camlobes is different than the third one, which is engaged on specific conditions to increase output (normal vtec) or retard output(r18),
Now, if you see the camshaft of A7, it has 2 camlobes for intake and 2 for exhaust.
2 camlobes mean that their is no seprate profile for vtec and the lower performance rocker will lock to the normal rocker arm for performance.
That was the main advert for the L15 that one of the valve stays closed and opens just in some conditions to give a boost of power. Maybe with the A7 they changed the camlobe profile to increase a little more airflow with 2nd vlave, which i dnt think is the case, or it might be timed as atkinson cycle (non vtec state) to improve economy (more likely), and goes into normal cycle when "vtec" kicks in.
The reason for not calling it real vtec or 12/16v was that there was no vtec profile. The closed or "semi closed" valve just mimicks the normal valve operation in the event of vtec activation. I blv it was called 12v/16v because one valve is working normal and other is not taking part in intake cycle until vtec, if its open normaly without vtec, than there is no vtec really.
Image: A7 2 Camlobes for 2 (VTEC) intake and 2 for 2 (non-vtec), this is an aftermarket spec.
R18 camshaft, 2 for 2 exhaust valves (non vtec) and 3 for 2 intake valves (vtec)
