Yes, I agree. The standard manifold is not designed to achieve the best performance, but in the way that the standard catalyst connects very shortly after the manifold. The goal is exclusively that the catalyst is heated very quickly. All other objectives are secondary...including better performance yield.
On the other hand, it can happen that the ECU complains if the catalyst heats up slower when mounted farer away after a "correct" manifold. For this reason, I have wrapped the manifold with a thermal tape, so that the catalyst warms up faster.
