Ok, here in the Carolinas all businesses operate on their own time, so the install of the suspension and exhaust took way longer than expected...at least it was all done properly.
The MPS worked out perfectly and as expected...it is essentially 10-20% stiffer spring rate than stock but with far superior dampening, so the car feels much more buttoned down. Really the car should have arrived stock with this suspension. The Vorschlag camber plates make zero noise, so that is nice as well. The suspension was setup to OEM recommendations with 600 front and 600 rear ride height (I know OEM is 595 front) and I went with a street friendly -2.5 front and -2 rear camber and zero toe all around. The compression and rebound settings were also left at default.
The Akrapovic exhaust, as expected, is of beautiful quality and the look is much more enhanced by getting rid of that rear "bladder" look. The sound is louder than stock, so noticeable change, but in reality this engine just does not sound that great - it's a lot more noise rather than an exciting sound; granted I am comparing it to the 3.8l Mezger engine. At least my wife is juvenile enough to like the pops and bangs on overrev.
I had a chance to take the car out for a 5 hour drive through the Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge highway.
The car is overall a blast to drive. Once you get some heat into the tires the traction is not as bad, and with the suspension it is very compliant, although it could be much stiffer to improve body weight transition from side to side (swaybars would do it too I suppose). The brakes are pretty amazing overall, almost too much for the PSS tires and I could tell that the pads/fluid were already suffering even just being driven hard on the road. As many have said I will need to change that for the track. The steering is accurate but the feel is very much sub par compared to the Boxster GTS and of course the GT3.
All in all very happy with the car as setup for now. It works for my daily commute, is comfortable enough for the kids and can produce great moments of fun!
The mods are done for now, and next up will be a track day at the Carolina Motorsports Park to see how it really feels at speed.
Good times!