Punched-out CATS...... What's it sound like???

[It's Just Eric]

Of course it will sound a bit louder without that mesh. A big part of that may be that there is more surface area throught the mesh to absorb or disperse sound waves that there would be with straight pipes. Also consider it like this....If your in a rather large pipe and you yell...it will seem alot louder than if you were outside. This is because the soundwave is reflected and channeled back to you rather than being dispersed.
Anyway, back to the topic on hand...You can always try it. I recommend replacing the cats with a staight pipe rather than trying to shell out the cat..that way if it doesnt sound good, you can just weld the pre cats back on if it doesnt sound good.