I don’t own one myself - hard to believe right - but I hear nothing but good things. I like the fact that it is so customizable and for the range a 4.5 in barrel is ideal. So if you insist on not buying a VP9F you might as well get an Echelon.
That's a good question. Sadly, I am not "in the know". However, there are a couple of mods here, along with perhaps @xdman, who are much closer to the pulse of Springfield Armory than us regular schlubs. I'm sure they can speculate much better than I can.