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It's a common misconception that going for a bigger exhaust nets more power. Often times, you lose power by just going bigger. With a small 4 banger 2.0L NA engine, you don't need anything bigger than the OEM size (that's why they chose it). You may see some more high end power, but how much time do you spend at 7000 RPM? You'll lose low end torque where you do actually need the power. But it'll look good on the dyno....
However, losing the cats does a lot of good for your power curve and helps a lot with the torque dip. I'm not a tuner, but I do know that cats limit how much exhaust valve timing you can run because you can melt the ceramic that the catalyst material is in and then you can do actual damage to your engine. Stage 1 or 2 isn't just tuning to push it as far as you dare- it's tuning your ECU for the mods you have, which happens to be a catless exhaust for stage 2.
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