98 v70 T5 minor performance mods

[CIK7]

Tomorrow my 01 V70 base goes bye bye to someone who could careless whether its a turbo. I enter the p80 realm with excitement. Finally I'll get to buy a P80 v70 t5. Its almost perfect. Almost. I would like some help with advice on minor performance upgrades. Should I change the FAI with a CAI? Not too stiffling but not too much that the ngine gets dirty.
What if I replace the cat with just straight piping?
I at least want to get rid of the two mammoths that make up the mufflers. Anyone have experience with the cheap $35 growling mufflers on eBay?
Lets say i want to step it up to the next level with the turbo. 98 V70 T5 comes with 16T. Next one is 18t. Whats needed to make that jump? I made a similar post about a 98 v70 xc but that didnt go through and that was referring to serious performance boost. Please help me. TIA

[Clemens]

Keep the cat and don't ruin our planet on purpose. Thanks!
That being said, get a good cat back exhaust (TME, IPD), a good tune from ARD or va5t and if you want a downpipe. That should push you towards 270 to 280 hp. If you need more, it gets really pricey quickly.
A good stage 0 with new ignition parts, all new vacum hoses and a clean pcv system goes without saying.

[matthew1]

What Clemens said. Tune, downpipe, exhaust, those are your bottlenecks. Stock intake is pretty good.