.. running a straight pipe with no cat would give you more horsepower.. and really if your adding 2-5 hp per mod its not worth it. Anything under 10% gain your not going to notice the difference. PLUS cold air intakes and short ram intakes DO NOT ADD hp to a stock engine. They really dont do anything but free up hp IF you have an exhaust system. Kind of how a blow off valve wont help unless its boosted. To prove what Im saying..Stay away from chips at the start, most are a rip off. The main 3 things you want first are an intake (cold air or short ram) exhaust headers, and exhaust parts (high flow cat, catBack) those will add horsepower but too awful much , they are all considered bolt ins and are easy to put on and not too expensive.
Again not true. I personally run a stock 88 integra only pushing about 115 hp and beat my friends 2006 mustang pushing 206 hp everyday on my way to work. There are a lot of variants though. Any race depends on the driver and how the car puts down the torque. A drag race is a measure of torque really more then hp. You take me, someone that can drive and knows where my power band is with a 5 speed against my friends automatic v6, I will beat him every timeBaisically every little thing helps by 2-4 hp. Honestly tho on hondas youre better off building the suspension up because in autox and track thats where they shine, a mustang or camaro will beat a honda in a straight line any day (unless the honda has hella boost) but the honda can torch other cars in the corners.