Will I see any kind of performance boost from replacing my cats with striaght pipes? or will I actually see a loss in power?
Thanks in advance.

 

Yes, although I'm not sure on how much. The cats have material inside them that slows the air down and causes back pressure. They also are guilty of sucking up lots of sound. Usually people end up gutting their cats, not just out right removing them, but I've also read of people welding a pipe inside. In all these cases, the cat is still there, it's purpose has just been circumvented. You probably want to pursue one of these courses, because inspectors do not take kindly to you removing cats. They don't like that at all!
With regards to performance, the engine requires a certain amount of back pressure to operate at its peak. If you remove the cats, you would loose a large amount of back pressure, and probably some low-end torque as well. maybe if you were to use a smaller pipe off of your headers, it might be all right, but that would probably compromise exhaust later on, or maybe you've already installed it. In any case, removing the cats would make me worry about back pressure. You can do it, yes, but be careful about it.

 

well, beingin florida, I don't have to deal with inspectors. The only info i've found seems to indicate that I will lose low end power, so I think I'll save a little money and buy a decent exhaust system, complete with headers.
thanks for the info.

 

i love florida's emission laws