I can visually see the lag and hear the VR on this lens working and when it stops the autofocus process then starts and the focus of the lens changes. There is also the matter of jitter with VR with a number of Nikon VR lenses and for me this is reason enough to avoid VR.
For people I need 1/80s to avoid subject motion blur even when they are standing and talking. For sports I would expect to be using a shutter speed faster than 1/500s and so VR provides no benefit whatsoever with a 80-400mm lens.
With lighter lenses I need to extend the mount by adding a plate to the lens foot and this was definitely needed for the 500mm PF. For the 80-400mm the only time I mount it to a tripod head is when doing autofocus fine tuning. Otherwise the collar and foot are off the lens and left at home as they get in the way when shooting hand held.
