a 2 seat jabiru has more cockpit room than a C152, the 4 seaters same as a Piper Archer
cruise at 120 Kts, using 20 ltrs an hr. (4 seat) 95 kts cruise at 15ltr/hr (2seat)
only flying a 2 seat early jabiru after stepping out of a Archer, i found the Jabiru to be more responsive requiring lighter pilot inputs, literally 2 finger flying! but unlike the archers, you need to lead into and out of turns with rudder. and quite a bit of it. just using aileron only will not produce a turn, just dip the wing. i found the approach speeds of the Jabirus a little too fast for their weight, aim for 60 kts over the threshold, and with relativly small control surfaces, requires quite a large control stick move for the same result in a archer. although the response is immediate.
The centre stick control is easy to fly with as well as the throttle between the legs on the 2 seat jabs.
Cockpit noise is probably a little less, probaly due to the smaller diameter props turning at 3000 Rpm full power and 2800 cruise.
As for reliablilty, well, almost all 4 seat jabs will be no more than 5 yrs old! i have equal hours in Jabirus as i do Archers, and have never had a failure of any kind in any aircraft
The big difference obviously is weight, and less weight means less inertia so you will find pulling power at 30 ft and gliding into the flare will result in a hard landing in a jab as it will lose speed rapidly, i find myself over the key with a little power and dont pull it to idle unti i begin the flare.
In turbulent air the jab is a little rougher, but not too much,
crosswind capability is the same, at 15 kts max. but i find countering crosswind with aileron in the jabiru is much easier for some reason.