I'm fairly new to the Z cars. But I've done some specs researching and find that the 96 don't have variable valve timing. How does this affects the performance of this model Z?

 

ECU programming is different.
Power is rumored to be reduced.
Ability to modify the 96's isn't as extensive as earlier models.

If you're relatively new, please feel free to visit my Link Page and have fun learning about our Z world.

 

The link page is definately a good place to start if you're new. There are a lot of good informative links in there.

I remember reading an article where they dyno'd a '96 Naturally Aspirated 300ZX, and a '95 Naturally Aspirated 300ZX. Same mileage, same model, same options etc. Basically they were the same cars, with with one year between them, and OBD-I (On Board Diagnostics-Level I) versus OBD-II (Level II).

The dyno numbers were the exact same... Although the OBD-II 300ZX lacked VVT (Variable Valve Timing), like Riz said, it was compensated with ECU Reprogramming. So all in all, it didn't make a huge difference.