Personally, given that choice, I'd go for a Pitts Special!!
Joking aside, of the Piper family, I have flown the Cherokee 180, Archer II (Warrior with a bigger engine) and -235 Dakota (Warrior with an even bigger engine and wobbly prop).
The only real difference I noticed, from a practical flying point of view, is that the Archer II floated more on landing, and didn't have the sink rate of the Cherokee 180 if you got too slow on finals, or the more abrupt stall if you "landed" 2 feet up from the runway (of course I never did that, did I...
).
Both types still had some aileron response close to or at the stall.
Operating as I do from Netherthorpe, the -140 is not an option, so it comes down to getting the newest a/c (with the 180+hp engine) that I could afford - so the Archer if the folding beer vouchers run to it!
If I had lots of runway, I would therefore probably choose the Warrior as the differences are not IMHO all that significant, and Cherokees are getting a little long in the tooth!