That is the correct path, yes. The angle of approach of X-pipes is very poor. Think of a figure eight car race. Those masses meet at a 90 degree angle. How much damage would occur if the meeting point was nearing zero degrees. The masses could merge, and separate into their proper directions, without major interruption.
The distances of primaries, collectors, and cat pipes, have very little affect on "tuning" of a crossover. For real racing where two, or ten horsepower, can win races, tuning those things would be worth it. That kind of tuning would take countless hours of hard fabricating work. It would not be worth it for real world street vehicles. That's the kind of stuff that car manufacturers spend millions on, and raise vehicle costs.
Our Explorers are perfect vehicles for a better crossover, the pipes are parallel. Regards,