If you don't include the cat anything you do will give 0 power gains..all the power from exhaust mods comes from headers and somewhat from the cat..The only point fiddling with the rest of the exhaust is clearly to have a better exhaust note...widder pipes are a must if you have something big going on with the engine..head work,cams,compression,different stroke..although totally get it that the stock exhaust has to go for a louder one!