... put a huge smile on my face!

The story: driving up an incline on the highway my car started losing power at a steady RPM, so I pulled over, thinking my clutch was slipping. I couldn't assess the damage/problem, so I tried to see if I could get off the highway safely, which I was able to do. A couple calls and 12 miles later I'm at the shop, pulling the O2 sensor and testing back pressure with muh dad. Turns out either the muffler or the cat had cloged somehow, and it ended up being the cat.
Unable to find a replacement here, we opted for replacing it with a straight pipe. I thought the car sounded great before, but now it sounds ANGRY! I couldn't believe my ears. It sounded as though it had a new engine in it, and there's a bit more top-end power now, as well.

Now my questions. Obviously there are some performance gains when switching from cat to straight pipe, but how much? It might have just been my imagination, but accelerating from 60-80 seemed much faster than before. I hadn't looked at any other speedo readings as I was concentrating on the road as best I could. Low-end power seems similar to what I had before, but at higher RPMs the car seems to pull harder than it used to.
And a strange thing, Spyhunter and I had a chance to look and listen to each other's cars a few months back, and though we had the same stock engine with the main difference being model years (his was an '87, mine's an '88), they sounded different. I believe he had also removed his cat and replaced it with a straight pipe. Back then, I had my cat on, and my car sounded deeper. Now with the cat off, it sounds louder and throatier. Spy, correct me if I'm wrong on any of the details.
Last question, the O2 sensor didn't seem to cause any computer errors when it was removed. Is this a usual response, or is there some suspect problem with my computer?

Thanks ahead of time for the help!

You loose some torque but gain some hp. Thats why you feel a slight difference at speed. The cat on my 87GT was plugged partially and when I had it replaced with a straight pipe it made a world of difference. I agree with the sound, gearing down just sounds cool with the popping and rumbling.

On thing you have to remember and take into consideration is that you've had a restricted exhaust for a while. You should feel a difference in performance, it's like getting the clogg out of the drain. If the cat broke down inside and a lot of material is gone the muffler has some restriction also.

And the modern cats flow much better than the old bead bed cats, so much so that you would be hard-pressed to feel a difference between one and no cat at all.

JazzMan

The original cats were much more restrictive than the new ones.
Get a new stainless cat from Rodney. He's nearby in Wisconsin. Sounds good, easy install, well worth the dollars. http://www.rodneydickman.com/

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Notchbacks RULE

"It's cool to have a car you can look back at."

It's kinda strange, the cat that came off didn't look anything like the cat shown on Rodney's page, unless that's the top of the cat, and the bottom's where the heat shield/cooling plate thing is. Also, it wasn't a bead-type cat. I'm beginning to wonder if either the older Fieros came with the bead-type cats, or if mine had an aftermarket replacement (though it looks stock). A cat won't go back on, at least not for the moment. I don't have enough cash for one, for starters, and eventually a V8's gonna replace the V6, so I figured I'd just save my cash.

So torque is lost? Or there isn't a torque gain like there is in HP? Kinda confused on that one.

HI tjfennel
I have a son that lives in Wahiawa. I have been to Honolulu 15 Times. Very nice place to live. Maybe someday I will move in with my Son, He has a three bedroom home in Wahiawa. I plan to come and visit pretty soon and will try to look you up. Good news on the cat,I have been debating on taking mine off. I already have the head pipe that I bought from the Fiero Store. My Son in Florida took the cat off of one his Fiero's and he did not like it and told me not to take mine off, so that is why I have not done it yet. My Daughter took her's off and it runs good and sounds good. Take care and good luck.
Don