I dug up some more pictures I can use to help demonstrate what's possible with polishing stainless steel.
This is a Borla exhaust, out of my 2007 Cayman S.
It has about 5,000 miles on it, and it's pretty disolored. This won't do because I had entered the car in an exhaust competition. If you look at the rear pipes, then look diffrerent, smoother than the rest of the system. That's because I polished them before I put the system in, but only from the back of the mufflers back.
Closer to the engine, and the discoloration is brutal.