It wasn’t all that long ago that 400 horsepower off the showroom floor was reserved for supercars and high-end factory tuned models. But we live in a time where even base-model V6 cars have over 300 horsepower, and 400 is the benchmark standard for whether or not a car is really considered “powerful”.
Of course, the LS3 and L99 are making over 400 horsepower with factory air boxes, chunky cast iron manifolds, and crush-bent exhaust systems with suitcase-sized mufflers. Now as “unrestrictive” as factory exhaust on a stock 5th gen Camaro might be, a performance system designed with more power in mind can deliver better sound, cleaner looks – and best of all – more horsepower and torque to the rear wheels.

From the long tube headers to the polished exhaust tips, the LG Super Pro Header System is a complete 3-inch exhaust solution for LS3/L99 powered 5th Gen Camaros.
As gearheads it’s our prerogative to pursue more power, so we picked up LG Motorsports’ complete headers/cats/x-pipe/mid-pipe/mufflers, 3-inch tubing front-to-back exhaust solution, the Super Pro Header System (Part # 2271), and installed it on a 5th Gen Camaro SS. Follow along with us as we review, install, and dyno test LG’s race-inspired full exhaust system for the street.
The “Before” Test
Before we can find out how much power long tube headers and a full 3-inch exhaust system are worth, we need to know where our test car stands at the beginning. Going into this test, our mild mannered L99/6L80E Camaro’s performance modifications have been limited to a K&N Typhoon Cold Air Intake, a ported stock throttle body, and a basic street tune done with HP Tuners. You might recognize this red 2010 Camaro SS as the very same car that we used in our K&N intake shootout and Lakewood drag suspension tests.
For our baseline numbers we took the Camaro to The Car Shop in Killeen, Texas, for a few runs on their Mustang Dyno. After three runs, the best “before” pull resulted in 313.1 horsepower at 5,800 RPM, and 336.3 pound-feet of torque at 4,272 RPM to the rear wheels.
If you think our numbers look a little on the low side, you’d be right – in our K&N dyno test this same car made 338 rear wheel horsepower with the same intake it has now on a Dynojet. Chalk it up to the notoriously conservative Mustang Dyno and take a lesson on just how much numbers can vary from dyno to dyno. Remember, we’re looking to see the overall improvement, not just throw numbers out there…
Baseline Horsepower: 313.1 at 5,800 RPM
Baseline Torque: 336.3 at 4,272 RPM
*Runs Performed on Mustang Dyno
Header Tech
LG Motorsports has been involved in racing since 1988, and they have been designing their own speed parts for nearly as long. In that time they’ve learned an awful lot about how to design parts for the street. In fact, the cornerstone of the LG exhaust system is their long tube headers, which are essentially a copy of their race headers. These headers are constructed of all 304 stainless steel and TIG welded with stainless wire. The 1 7/8-inch primaries follow a smooth path before transitioning into a true 3-inch merge collector.
We went to great lengths to make sure that the headers we produce for street cars are as similar as possible to the headers we use on our racecars. – Lou Gigliotti, LG Motorsports
To get the story behind the Super Pro Header System, we talked with founder, owner, and operator of LG Motorsports – Mr. Lou Gigliotti. “We went to great lengths to make sure that the headers we produce for street cars are as similar as possible to the headers we use on our racecars,” says Gigliotti. “The collectors themselves are an identical cast copy of the fabricated merge collectors on our racecars. Producing it as a casting is one of the ways we help keep the cost down with this kind of race-inspired technology for the street.”
Merge collectors are a truly impressive piece of exhaust engineering. They work by creating a vacuum that actually pulls exhaust gasses along. With the firing of each piston, the exhaust pulse passes through the venturi ( or “neck-down”) in the merge collector, and then quickly expands on the other side. This creates a low pressure area behind each exhaust pulse, and helps to pull the next pulse along.
Here you can see how the merge collector pinches down just a bit before transitioning back to 3-inch pipe.

The velocity cone inside the 5G headers forces each exhaust pulse to stay in its own lane on the way to the merge collector, which helps to eliminate flat spots in the power curve.
Another piece of race inspired technology that has been incorporated into the 5G headers is the velocity cone inside the collectors. It’s a simple spike with smoothed edges welded to the point where all four primaries terminate inside the collector, but it has a very important purpose in promoting maximum exhaust flow.
“The velocity cone inside the collector helps keep the individual exhaust pulses from tumbling into one another,” says Gigliotti, “The exhaust pulses flow out of the primary, across the cone and into the merge collector. If that cone wasn’t in the collector, the pulses would start to get in each other’s way, and there would be a noticeable flat spot in the power band.” The 5G long tubes are practically a work of art thanks to some top notch TIG welds.
Exhaust System Engineering
LG Motorsports 5th Gen Camaro Super Pro Header System: Features and Benefits
- All TIG Welded 304 Stainless Steel Construction
- Full 3-inch Exhaust From Collectors to Mufflers
- Long Tube Headers: 1 7/8-inch primaries, velocity cone, and merge collector.
- Test Pipes Included With Optional High Flow Catalytic Converters
- Siamese X-Pipe
- Straight Through Mufflers
- Includes Exhaust Clamps, O2 Extension Harness, and OEM Gaskets
The remainder of the Super Pro Header System consists of wide-open 3-inch tubing all the way back to the muffler tips. The destination along the way is either the included test pipes, or the optional high flow 200 cell metal matrix catalytic converters (Part # 2159). Since our Camaro is first and foremost a street car, it’s important for it to still pass emissions tests, so we opted for the high flow cats. Since LG still includes the test pipes with catted systems, we can swap them out whenever we feel the need.
One of the most important features in the exhaust system is the Siamese X-pipe. Lots of X-pipes literally look like an “X”, and with this configuration two exhaust pulses will inevitably enter the X-pipe at the same time and crash into one another. Again – a flat spot in your power band.
“With our Siamese merge, the tubes come in side-by-side and there is a slice in the middle connecting the two pipes,” says Gigliotti. “This allows the pressure to balance itself from side to side, but allows two routes for each pulse to exit down. Essentially when the engine reaches the harmonic point where the pulses will run into one another, they will collide but since they aren’t restricted they will slide right by and head back down the original pipe they started in.”
Even the size of the opening in the Siamese X-pipe makes a difference. Gigliotti tells us, “We tested a lot of different sized holes for the X-pipe merge, and we found that the size of the opening absolutely matters. We noticed a change the torque curve depending on the size of the opening and where we placed it.” LG includes off-road test pipes with the Super Pro Header System, but we opted up for the high-flow catalytic converters. Another cool feature is the Siamese X-pipe that LG specifically tuned for the 5th Gen Camaro
Installation
People can say what they want about the size of 5th Gen Camaros, but their size absolutely makes them easier to work on. Try installing a set of long tubes on a 4th Gen Camaro or a C5/C6 Corvette, and you had better clear your schedule for a few days. That is not the case with the 5th Gen. For the most part, the install of the Super Pro Header System was downright easy, and wouldn’t be too difficult for any moderately skilled DIY mechanic to do in their home garage. Removing the spark plug wires, popping out the dipstick tube, and unclipping the O2 sensor harnesses are the first steps to getting your stock exhaust system out.
It was important to us for our system to have full 3-inch piping from the collectors all the way back to the mufflers. – Lou Gigliotti
After getting the Camaro up on jack stands and disconnecting the battery, we started the disassembly by popping the spark plug wires off the plugs. Luckily the plugs can be left in the heads throughout the whole procedure. We then removed the 15mm bolt that secures the dipstick to the passenger side cylinder head, and pulled the dipstick tube loose from the oil pan with a firm tug.
At this point we turned our attention to the harnesses for the front oxygen sensors. The oxygen sensors for both banks have a connector clip conveniently attached to the back of each cylinder head, and easily unclip after a green plastic safety key is removed. Under the car we located the harnesses for the rear oxygen sensors and unclipped them before we broke all four sensors loose. Remove the manifold bolts and this simple exhaust clamp, and the stock manifold and cats drop right out the bottom. The stock cat-back is awkward and heavy, but comes out easily by removing the rubber hangers.
However, the rest of the exhaust system is a bit awkward to handle and definitely requires two people to maneuver if it’s going to be removed as one piece. Even so, we just popped loose the rubber hangers at the rear of the car, slid the whole cat-back towards the front of the car to get the exhaust tips to clear the rear fascia, and pulled it out from under the car. Installing the exhaust system is a slam-dunk once you have the headers bolted in.
The LG 5G headers slid right into place from under the car and cleared everything perfectly. One of the best things about the LG headers is that they don’t even require you to take the steering shaft loose. We wiped down the mating surface of the heads, readied the new OEM manifold gaskets that LG includes, put a few drops of anti-seize on the stock manifold bolts, and had the headers bolted up in no time. Now, the dipstick tube was ready to go back in, and ironically, maneuvering the tube back into the oil pan was one of the most difficult parts of the entire install. Getting the mufflers squared away and the exhaust tips centered in the openings took a few tries, but luckily there was plenty of adjustment built into the system.
The Moment of Truth – The “After” Test

Back on The Car Shop's Mustang Dyno we found out just how much power the Super Pro System was worth.
We did a few more quick checks to make sure everything was tight and that we hadn’t left out any bolts, and fired the car up. The tailpipes let out a nice low growl, followed by a mellow rumble at idle. The exhaust note could clearly be heard inside the car during our maiden voyage with the new system, but honestly it was nowhere near as loud as we were expecting it to be with a full 3-inch, straight through exhaust system.
Later that night we had our friend Josh Herron from Easy Performance put a mild street tune on the car with HP Tuners software. To be completely honest, the car didn’t feel like it had all that much more kick until after Herron readjusted the fuel and timing tables. Once he had, the L99 really woke up, and the seat of the pants power was absolutely more evident.
The next morning we had the car back on the dyno at the Car Shop to see if our butt-dyno sessions from the night before were correct. On the real dyno, the Camaro spun the drums to the tune of 334.7 horsepower and 354.9 pound feet of torque. That was an overall gain of 21.6 rear wheel horsepower and 18.6 pound feet of torque over our “before” runs. LG quotes the Super Pro Header system at a gain of 35 rear wheel horsepower with the test pipes, so our numbers were in the ball park considering we are running the system with cats.
Baseline Horsepower: 313.1 at 5,800 RPM
Baseline Torque: 336.3 at 4,272 RPM
Horsepower After LG Headers/Exhaust: 334.7 at 5,520 RPM – Increase of 21.6 HP over baseline
Torque After LG Headers/Exhaust: 354.9 at 4,294 RPM – Increase of 18.7 Lb./Ft. over baseline
*All Runs Performed on Mustang Dyno
Conclusion
In our honest opinion, the LG Super Pro Header System simply drips with quality and thoughtful design, and LG’s extensive racing experience really shines through. The install was easy and gratifying, and the now Camaro has a lot more power to play with on the street from off idle all the way to the redline. Of course, the rumble from the tail pipes is just an added benefit to remind you of the 376 cubic inch LS engine under the control of your right foot – exactly how a modern muscle car should sound.