BACKGROUND:
I have a 2001 coupe, LS1, A4 purchased new with current mileage at 18,000. I have a 3:15 axle. In the last three years I limited my performance add-ons to non-invasive items with a Donaldson air cleaner, 160-degree thermostat and I pulled the wire screen out of the MAF sensor. The C5 performance Forum has been a wealth of information for me and has encouraged me to proceed with a set of headers. I concluded that LG Motorsport headers with RandomX cats were what I wanted. I enlisted DRAGON RACE ENGINEERING in Denver to do the install and the tune with their Mustang dyno and LS1 editing. In addition DRAGON polished and ported my throttle body. The headers are truly bolt on and went in very easily with no modifications or welding whatsoever. I used my stock mufflers.

PROCESS
I wanted to know the incremental improvement associated with adding the LGM headers and then the incremental improvement due to the DRAGON RACE ENGINEERING LS1 Edit and tune. So we ran the following dyno tests:

1.Baseline. This is the way I brought in the car for the header installation.
We had a problem. The first time we ran the car on the dyno there was
significant knock retard of 2-4 degrees through a wide rpm range.
DRAGON immediately raised the fuel to eliminate the knock. We then ran
again and this became the test indicated below as
baseline. DRAGON has seen this quite often when the MAF screens have
been removed and the LS1 editing/tune has not been done to
compensate for the increased air flow. Without this minor LS1 edit/tuning I
was actually worse off having removed the MAF screen compared to
leaving it in place.

2. The add on dyno run was based on the addition of the LGM headers and
the porting of the throttle body. No LS1 edit/tune was done except for #1
above.

3. DRAGON RACE ENGINEERING proceeded with their custom tuning. A
total of 5 dyno runs were made with spark, fuel/air modifications being
tried. The DRAGON Expert Tune dyno chart below is the result of their
best edit/tune results.

RESULTS:
Baseline, LGM Add-On, DRAGON Expert Tune
Peak HP 277 - 294 - 319
Peak Torque 308 - 324 - 352
80%Highway MPG 25.5 - n/a - 27.8
SOUND level Cabin at all speeds/conditions is quieter than
stock. Exterior is enhanced nicely and a little
louder than stock. Burbles gone.




CONCLUSIONS
1 I suggest that every Corvette owner seek out a good tuner with a chassis
dyno and accomplish an LS1 edit/tune. I STRONGLY recommend that this
be done even with the most benign add-ons.
2. I am very happy with the LGM headers. DRAGON RACE ENGENEERING has installed and measured almost every header available in the marketplace, but this was the first time they had a chance to work with the LGM product. They have never before seen the dramatic improvements in torque as well as HP on any other brand. I can also store my OEM header/cats as they were removed and directly replaced by the LGM product.
3.DRAGON RACE ENGENEERING is an expert class tuner. Just look at the improvement between the dyno test with the LGM header as a bolt on and the after results of their tuning on the chassis dyno. Just remarkable! There is no question in my mind as to the value of an expert tuning on a dyno. The dyno tuning was based on a 3rd gear full throttle, starting at 3500 rpm.


DYNO CHART DETAILS- RW TORQUE (adj. to sea level)
RPM BASELINE, LGM ADD-ON, DRAGON EXPERT TUNE
3500 292 - 316 - 341
3600 295 - 317- 343
3700 298- 319 - 348
3800 301 - 321- 351
3900 306 - 323 - 351
4000 307- 323- 350
4100 303- 322 - 349
4200 305 - 323 - 351
4300 307- 322 - 352
4400 308 - 319- 352
4500 304 - 320 - 351
4600 301 - 321 - 348
4700 297 - 322- 346
4800 294- 316 342
4900 292- 310 - 339
5000 291- 303 - 335
5100 284 - 301- 335
5200 278 - 296- 327
5300 274- 288- 316
5400 269- 269 - 308
5500 --- 259- 303
5600 --- ---- 298

DYNO CHART DETAILS- RW HP (adj. to sea level)

RPM BASELINE LGM HEADERS DRAGON EXPERT TUNE
3500 195 - 211 - 227
3600 203 - 217 - 236
3700 210 - 224 - 245
3800 218 232 254
3900 227 240 260
4000 234 246 267
4100 237 255 272
4200 244 261 281
4300 251 265 288
4400 258 268 295
4500 261 274 301
4600 263 281 306
4700 266 289 309
4800 269 289 312
4900 272 289 316
5000 277 289 319
5100 276 292 318
5200 275 293 317
5300 277 291 319
5400 277 276 317
5500 277 267 317
5600 -- -- 317


DRAGON RACE ENGINEERING:
For those in the Denver area and nearby states looking for a great tuner with the ability to recommend and install mild to wild modifications, check out DRAGON RACE ENGINEERING tel 303 438 1571.

FUTURE
My current torque figures are slightly better than a stock Z06. HP is below Z06. DRAGON has recommended a mild camshaft that should allow me to exceed my target of a stock Z06. I have scheduled this work and look forward to posting the results as a follow up. At this time I do not intend to go beyond the camshaft. But, as everyone knows, this is a dangerously addictive venture.


[Modified by lawrencedhuber, 4:36 PM 12/9/2003]


[Modified by lawrencedhuber, 4:45 PM 12/9/2003]


[Modified by lawrencedhuber, 4:48 PM 12/9/2003]


[Modified by lawrencedhuber, 4:57 PM 12/9/2003]

 

Great results...congratulations! :flag

Steve T.

 

Guess that answers my question as to whether or not they work well at altitude! ;)

Great results Lawrence.

Just to emphasize for folks that going to be going :skep: about the absolute numbers, it is worth mentioning that Dragon's dyno is a Mustang dyno, and they usually show a bit low relative to dynojets.

Looks like they're definitely the place to go once I start opening up my motor.

Cheers,

-Jake

 

Excellent post. :cheers: It sure shows the need for tuning after the header install.

 

Thanks for sharing.
They aren't kidding when they say the best C5 header on the planet! :party:


[Modified by ClarksZ06, 9:34 PM 12/9/2003]

 

Hi,
Great writeup!

I think I read it correct and that is a 42rwhp gain, and 44 rwtq gain after tuning. I think that is great. Plus on a Mustang dyno there is a 5% difference compared to a Dynojet.

That makes it a 44rwhp/46 rwtq gain if it was a dynojet. Plus the peak hp number on a dynojet would be 335rwhp from an A4 with cats.

Thanks for the extra work it took to write this up.

Glad you picked LG Pro Long Tubes.

LG

 

Just a quick thought for you... Whenever you do a dyno run try and capture the run using 4th gear because that is a 1:1 ratio and will provide a more accurate result. Using 3rd gear the numbers would be a little off because it is a closer ratio gear than 4th.

Just an FYI...

 

vrus - 3rd gear in an auto is 1:1 4th gear is overdrive... :)

 

I guess that teaches me for not reading the specs on the car properly.

Thanks for the correction...

 

Sweet! I love those LGM's! :cool:

 

Time to go find $1500... That's a phenominal gain! :cheers:

 

Interesting. I plotted your results and the loss above around 5,200 without tuning is very evident. This is great information, thanks for posting it. (Got to save money and speak to the boss he tells himself :yesnod: )

 

Thanks for starting this thread. You & I seem to have the same vette & the same mods. This makes it much easier to see the performance gains. :cheers:

 

Welcome to the Forum! The best comparo I've seen. More evidence for the best. :D

 

I absolutely love my LG's. It is one of my best mods I have done to date.
I would never consider anything else after owning these. :cheers: