There are two schools of thought,both may work well for multiple folks.As said again the conversation was just a casual discussion on the benefit of both ways.I clearly stated it multiple times I did not say anything about the positioning in my initial post but you had to bring it up yourself in order to engage in a discussion on it and that's exactly what we have on our hands now here.Now that the can of worms has been opened then so be it...
You're forgetting one crucial piece of detail here the competition cars are judged on multiple categories which includes the build,aesthetics etc plus brand promotion is also a factor and the whole combined score determines the winner.The best sounding car isn't usually the one that wins.it'd be better if they just simply judged based on the way it sounds(imaging+tonality) rather than the install and how it measures on a RTA.
Btw Scott Buwalda(owner of Hybrid Audio Technologies and the guy to hit the highest ever score in IASCA) has had multiple wins with kick installs.
Reflections can never be completely eliminated and that is exactly why since we can't hack and slash our cars to that extent it helps to have that midrange down there.There are trade offs in each install and tbh even with a passenger sitting in there the image doesn't move that much,in fact kicks help both passengers to have a good image.
I know the difference between an acoustic phase shift and an electric one,in fact most of us who are avid followers of the DIYMA forum know this I can't seem to understand is why you're pretending as if I don't.
Plus I don't follow anyone in particular,I take into account and try and pick up things from multiple folks on that forum.Gary Summers,BuickGN,Bigred,Glasswolf,Hanatsu,Patrick Bateman and last but not the least Andy Wehmeyer.
And here's one of the inspirations of most of the members on that forum.The buick GN,the car that started it all.Undefeated! Need I say more?
The SpeakerWorks Buick
In 1988, another superstar car was introduced to the car audio world. The 1986 Buick Grand National (Installations April '89 and August '92) built by SpeakerWorks in Orange, California (and later sold to Richard Clark), is believed to be the only vehicle ever to retire undefeated from the pro division of the national sound-off circuit.
The bad black Buick won the Alpine Car Audio Nationals II Pro Unlimited (751 watts and up) division in '88, and IASCA's Pro unlimited title in '89, '90, and '91 before being retired by Clark.
"It's the winningest car of all time in the Pro category," said Clark, who keeps the car in storage in North Carolina. "It was totally undefeated, and its design had a big impact on the way things are done today."
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[TD="align: left"]The SpeakerWorks Buick was "the winningest car" in IASCA's Pro division, according to Richard Clark. The system featured two 15-inch subwoofers behind the rear seat, and a 12-inch sub in each rear side panel.[/TD]
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According to Eric Holdaway, whose family owns SpeakerWorks and designed the original system, the speaker locations in the Buick were a pioneering concept.
"People thought we were nuts to put speakers in the kick panels," said Holdaway. "Our goal was to maximize the pathlengths for better imaging and staging. It was a groundbreaking approach that most top installers are following today."
The all-stealth Buick, equipped with only six speakers and nearly 5,000 watts of power, won four national titles and consistently hit 140+ dB. "I won $60,000 in prize money in one year with that car," said Clark.
Reference: Loudspeaker Design Cookbook - Seventh Edition (Vance Dickason)
Recommended by Andy Wehmeyer,the guy who designed the ms 8 and has been at the heart of JBL since the past couple of decades.
Centre to centre spacing dilemma between the tweeter and the midrange therefore escaped from in the car,call it cheating if you may. 
So let's see,we've established the fact that a two way images quite well with the tweeters placed up there.If I look at it in a way,the midrange that close to the midbass i'm kinda actually looking at a system with the imaging of a two way and the tonality as well power handling capability of a 3 way.
True point source? Well then i'd say sell that 3 way and invest in a electrostatic speaker.
Oh i've thought on them,in fact i've even experimented on them.Google? I think you assumed somewhere that you're the only one that reads those forums.Some of us might know a thing or two too you know,just throwing big words out there just to assert authority doesn't quite cut it.
As I see it,there's no need to reinvent the wheel.If it suits you then cheers,but it's just a suggestion on my part at the end of the day how it sounds to you is what matters and I can only pass along suggestions according to my experiences and little knowledge that i've attained throughout this journey.
p.s here's some food for thought for you,Gary Summer's car is a 5.1 surround car.You can't have a kick install with a centre channel as it's important to have similar drivers in the same plane.Maybe,just maybe if he was doing a stereo only car he might've done otherwise. 
