Subtlety is fun. My GTI is toned down -- quiet catback (which sounds nice when you get into it, but sounds stock around town/at low throttle), lowkey aesthetic changes to the lighting (euro R tails, Ed's R headlights), and most of the red has been covered with black vinyl. The only red left on the exterior is the brake calipers/carriers, and only because I don't want to paint them yet. I'll likely look for R calipers to swap at some point. While I get the heritage of the red accents and think that it looks fine, it just isn't the style I wanted to go for.
Twintercooler piping will also be black, and I'm hopeful that with a good catted downpipe the car will maintain the 'stock' sound for the most part. And of course, the DV spacer is only noisy when I ask it to be, so that's a nice benefit as well.