Learned to fly on PA28s (160 & 180), but now fly - you guessed it - mainly the competition.
Leaving aside the fact that most club/hire a/c in Europe seem to be C172s, I prefer the Cessnas for severals reasons (in no particular order):
a) more space in the cockpit
b) higher service ceiling
c) better payload
d) two doors you can actually get in and out of in a civilized manner
e) windows that open
f) shade under the wings (or shelter from rain...)
Handling is different, as the low-wing Piper tends to float more on landing, while the high-wing Cessna has a much lower wing-loading and tends to be more 'nervous' in X-winds - especially on the RG you'll know what your feet are for !
Btw, spernkey, how do you get 140kt out of an RG
I rarely manage more than 125
, admittedly on a club a/c.
Still, a 172 RG it is for me
