Exhaust questions.

Your cart is empty,so prob not gonna get any respeonses.
As for passing inspection I would guess no,I dunno any states that allow no cats.
Its an easy find with google,I found it and Im from TX.Here read all this,it tells you your answer,took less than 1 min to find.Just scroll down:

Virginia State Police - Safety Division

As for me im kinda leaning towards a catted UPR X-pipe,heard a couple around town running that with the Super 44's and sounded nice.
 
you wont pass inspection without cats. If you dont have cats you can tell just by the smell of the exhaust.

as far as mid pipes I have an o/r H Mac, with mac catback and people tell me all the time I have the best sounding mustang. I have a friend that has a UPR o/r X with mac catback and I love the sound of it.