C8 Corvette Picks Up Impressive Power from Late Model Racecraft

C8 Corvette LT2 with custom exhaust gains 20 horsepower and 48 lb-ft of torque.

When the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray was introduced with the engine mounted behind the driver, some people in the performance community insisted that there would be minimal gains from basic bolt-ons. Some of these skeptics claim that with the relatively small exhaust system, there would be very little extra flow to free up horsepower. Aftermarket exhaust systems are among the most common upgrades to new performance cars and while most owners are looking for more sound, some extra power is always a nice gain as well.

The team from Late Model Racecraft was among the first to develop exhaust upgrades for the C8 Corvette. They began by designing cat-back system, followed by high flow cats, both of which add an impressive amount of power to the LT2-powered Corvette Stingray, hushing the internet know-it-alls.

C8 Corvette Cat-Back Exhaust

Late last month, the Late Model Racecraft team shared their progress in designing a custom cat-back exhaust system for the new C8 Chevrolet Corvette. The thread began with a look at the factory exhaust system on the car and on the ground.

Tear down complete of the factory exhaust system on the 2020 C8 Corvette. We are now in the process of custom building our LMR exhaust system. Check back to see progress pictures and please subscribe to our YouTube Channel to see a full video of the exhaust being built once complete. If you have a C8 Corvette, and want it to sound better than the factory system while adding more horsepower, e-mail or call us today for information.

While the thread doesn’t exactly show the step-by-step process, we get a look at the various stages of the build, along with additional views of the C8 without any exhaust. We have included a handful of the pictures here, but there are many more in the original thread. Click here for a closer look at the LMR cat-back development thread.

As you can see, the factory cat-back system is far more elaborate, incorporating the large muffler system, the exhaust valves, some flex pipe and lots of insulation. Meanwhile, the aftermarket exhaust setup is just gorgeous stainless piping and flawless welds, with a pair of bullet-style mufflers and big, round exhaust tips. The LMR system looks considerably better and it is louder, but does it add power?

Late Model Racecraft Exhaust on the Dyno

Once LMR had their beautiful new cat-back system all wrapped up, it was time for some dyno action. The video below shows a handful of dyno runs. One is a fourth gear pull, one is a fifth gear pull and a couple are hard runs through the gears. Those hard runs through the gears give us a great example of the exhaust note and the shift speed of the transmission, but the key pulls are those in fourth and fifth gears.

During the fourth gear pull, the C8 Corvette with the Late Model Racecraft cat-back system didn’t pick up huge peak horsepower, but there is a steady increase across the powerband, reaching around 20 horsepower around 5,500 rpm. More importantly, torque levels were also up by about 20 lb-ft across the board, but the LT2 also picked up great peak torque, jumping from 400 lb-ft to 422 lb-ft.

When LMR made their fifth gear pull, the horsepower numbers remained consistent, with a gain of about 20 horsepower over stock across the board. However, torque jumped up even more, peaking at 438.3 lb-ft. That is a gain of 37.5 lb-ft of torque by simply changing the cat-back exhaust system.

In short, in stock form, this C8 Corvette made 458 horsepower and 400.88 lb-ft of torque on the Dynojet dyno. The Late Model Racecraft exhaust system lifted those numbers to 459 horsepower and 439.2 lb-ft of torque, with an increase of around 20 horsepower in the mid-range. Needless to say, this should quiet those folks who insisted that simple upgrades won’t add power to the LT2.

High Flow Cats

Most recently, Late Model Racecraft has created a set of custom high flow catalytic convertors for the C8. The company made a short video showing the dyno testing of the new Stingray with both the cat-back exhaust system and the high flow cats. Once again, the results were impressive. Keep in mind that tuning has not been unlocked for the LT2, so these gains are purely from the added exhaust flow. The numbers are all-but-guaranteed to improve with tuning, but in the meantime, the results are still impressive.

Swapping to the high flow cats added just shy of 10 peak horsepower and 10 peak lb-ft of torque. As you can see in the video, that gain is pretty consistent across the powerband. Compared to the stock numbers, this exhaust setup adds just shy of 50 lb-ft of torque at the wheels.

If you have received your 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and you are looking for more power or sound, the LMR setup shown here might be exactly what you need. This setup looks great, sounds great and adds solid power right where drivers will use it the most.

Photos: Late Model Racecraft

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