Ditch the cat?
 

I am moving to a state with no emissions laws and I was thinking about ditch the cat. The car is a 93 so there are only two O2 sensors, both foward of the cat. Is it a good idea or bad one?

Me personally.. I like the quiet/refined sound of an exhaust (which is why I opted for a hooker catback). But here's a quick pros/cons list of ditching the cat. I'm going to assume since you even thought of this that you enjoy loud cars.

Pro: Loud, great exhaust note coupled w/ right catback, very minor HP gain (~4HP, more with headers), don't ever have to worry about replacing a cat.

Cons: Back bumper gets a build-up of exhaust particles that the cat normally blocks, idling for a long enough time causes a build-up of fumes around you.. which can smell pretty bad at times, w/ the wrong exhaust it can sound ugly, once you travel out of state lines you're under that new state's emissions laws, you pay for the welding fees if you ever move to another state as well. Did I mention it can be very loud? (For those who dislike very loud exhausts).

I took mine off my 93 when it went bad. It sounds great, I get complements all the time. All I have is a flowmaster muffler and no cat.
One thing I have noticed is that my car sounds a little better than the 94+ with the same exhaust. Don't know why though.

The noise never bothers me, although at highway speeds you will need to turn the radio up a little more :) . I can only smell the exhaust gas when I open the door and the wind is blowing my way, doesn't bother me, but you probably don't want to stand behind it for very long unless you wanna smell like exh.

I have never noticed any staining on the bumper, although since someone mentioned it I noticed some residue on the bumper that you can feel, wax took care of it, nothing that bothered me.

No cat here either...i agree with Joe...sounds great....the smell is a bother sometimes but you get used to it. i got rid of mine over a year ago and have never noticed any carbon on my bumper...