Since regulations of exhaust emissions are continuously reinforced, studies to reduce harmful emissions during the cold start period of SI engines have been carried out very extensively worldwide. During the cold start period, raising the temperature of cold exhaust gas is a key strategy to minimize the light-off time of three way catalysts. In this study, a synthetic gas containing a large amount of hydrogen was injected into the exhaust manifold to raise the exhaust gas temperature and to reduce harmful emissions. The authors tried to evaluate changes in exhaust gas temperature and harmful emissions through controlling the engine operating parameters such as ignition timings and lambda values. Also the authors investigated both combustion stability and reduction of harmful emissions. Experimental results showed that combustion of the synthetic gas in the exhaust manifold is a very effective way for solving the problems of harmful emissions and light-off time. The results also showed that the strategy of retarded ignition timings and increased air/fuel ratios with ESGI is effective in raising exhaust gas temperature and reducing harmful emissions. Futhermore, the results showed that engine operating parameters ought to be controlled to lambda = 1.2 and ignition timing = $0{sim}3^{circ}$ conditions to reduce harmful emissions effectively under stable combustion conditions.