Ultimate Headers’ LS Engine Long Tube Header Testing

We get press releases from a number of aftermarket automotive manufacturers on a daily basis. Most of them with some new product and all of them very interesting in one aspect or another. A few of these press releases cause us to put on the brakes and do a double check on rare occasion. Last week, we received one of those freeze-frame press releases from Ultimate Headers and after taking it in for a few minutes, we decided to followup and get the down and dirty straight from the founder of Ultimate Headers, Jim Browning.

“We’ve undertaken a comprehensive testing program, using an outside independent testing facility to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the Ultimate Header design and product,” stated Browning.

“In recent testing at Katech, we compared our new long tube header against a equal tube length stepped header with merge collectors.   We all know a header like this with a very large radius will not fit into your Camaro or any other street car,” explained Browning. “When it comes to late 1960s and very early 1970s, I’ve never seen a big-block Chevy with aftermarket headers that didn’t require a modification to make them fit in an F-body. Most guys just take a hammer and ding the tube until it clears the steering box.”

We all know the benefits that long tube headers bring to performance levels, but dimpling the tube cause an obstruction in the exhaust that robs performance. “The difference in our headers it the tight radius bends in the tubes due to the investment casting process we use to create these bends,” said Browning. Information on Ultimate Headers’ cast tight radius bends can be found by clicking here.

The result of the test showed that the Ultimate Headers’ long tube exhaust performed at the same level as the bulkier high performance, equal tube length stepped headers with single collector with individual wide band O2 sensors on each tube for optimized engine tuning. The crew at Ultimate Headers could have installed bungs on each tube to perform the same engine optimization but they chose to run against the dyno headers in the “out-of-the-box” configuration, which made the results even more surprising.

The equal length tube, step header design has long been known for helping produce strong horsepower and a flatter torque curve. The Ultimate Headers long tube header, with its tight radius bends would typically be considered at somewhat of a disadvantage in torque and power in theory. In reality, the Ultimate Headers long tube headers will fit in a tight engine bay and still provide the performance of bulkier headers that are designed for full out performance applications. Plus, Ultimate Headers are constructed from 321 stainless steel for a long life.

With an LS3 engine that had head and cam package, here were the test results:

Peak Torque:

• 5209 to 5404 rpm: 510 lb/ft (Dyno header)
• 5207 to 5409 rpm: 503 lb/ft (Ultimate Header)

Peak Horsepower:

• 6404 to 6607 rpm  569hp (dyno header)
• 6406 to 6607 rpm  572hp (Ultimate Header)

“What we have shown is that in everyday experience, the Ultimate Header delivers the power plus having lasting durability backed up by a lifetime warranty,” added Browning.