to introduce additional air into the exhaust to mix with the additional fuel put in during AIV mode so as to keep the catalytic converters hot enough to properly function. This is documented in the FSM. The fact that a richer idle tends to be smoother is just a by-product that the earlier models got to enjoy. When there are no issues with the newer model Z's that dont have AIV, the idle will be just as smooth as the previous models with AIV.