Swapped out the stock knob with a nice leather-wrapped unit, feels way more premium on the track. Only took 20 minutes to install, not bad for a Sunday afternoon.
Finally got the trim sorted, took some patience to get the fit just so and now everything lines up perfectly. Now the dash doesn't feel like a giant puzzle piece.
Replaced those ancient rubber things with new carbon ones and the pedal travel feels so much better now, can't wait to try out the brake upgrade tomorrow.