Hello '16PIU, I'm in admin and basically drive back and forth to the office so I don't have a computer mount. Siren / light switches and radio / repeater are all hidden so I really didn't need the free space the column shifter affords you between the seats. (And I'm a professional coffee drinker and I haven't found an aftermarket police console yet whose cup holders will beat OEM!)
I ordered it with the interior upgrade package so the factory console is there, just with a different top plate. I miss the column shifter arc of the Crown Vic's, so natural. The PIU feels good, kind of rolls towards you. I remember we tried some Charger Pursuits when they came out in 2006 and the shifter was a joke, awkward as hell. Today's "Caprice" is even worse but that car is a different story for another day!
Unixadm, the conversion was easier than expected. The big plus is that the retail and the PIU use the same shifter cable. To go from colum to floor, you'll have to adjust the linkage out on the tranny just a bit to lengthen it (there is plenty of adjustment available in the cable). The biggest pain was wiring up the brake interlock, park detect and key removal inhibitor from the column down to the floor shifter. I broke down and bought an OEM wiring manual on eBay for $30, money well spent! I took the "low gear" button on the end of the column and put it on a small, momentary push button on the steering column. I also replaced the steering column cover so to do away with the huge rubber boot from the column shifter. Believe it or not, that whole cover was $7 from Ford.
Possibly the best part, the floor shifter allows the tranny to physically go into "sport" mode. Now just got to pull my airbag and see if the wiring for the paddle shift steering wheel is there. Will have to check a few other leads as well, but it may be possible.
Do you have the factory console already? If so, you're in pretty good shape.
I plan on doing a write up very soon.