After searching it seems either way will work for what I'm looking for, which is a free flowing exhaust to compliment the upgrade. I guess I just need to decide if I'm gonna spend around $100 to have the cat removed, since I don't weld, or $400+ for aftermarket. And with either is a $80 tune (SE Tuner).

 

Good point on the warranty. I keep forgetting how important the extended warranty has become on the later models with the MoCo's bean counter approach that has degraded the quality of the product. I have two and the newest is an '05 bought new; the oldest an '02 bought used; doubt if I will ever buy new again. If I ever weaken and do buy new, I would have to get the extened warranty and hope I could hold the dealer and the MoCo's collective feet to the fire should something catastrophic happen.