I have just completed a summer tour in NZ flying a BA, B2 ,Super D's and towards the end a Super D 2.
The landing sites are at 6-7000ft amsl and most flights have 6 pax (sightseeing) on board.
After flying the BA and B2 most of the time and then swapping to the Super D models I found the performance to be excellent. Depending on the flight, the BA with 6 pax we would carry about 50%, but with the Super D2, we could carry 70% and land with heaps of spare power. Also with the Lycoming/Honeywell engines, the ground idle was at 52%. MUCH quieter then 70% in the airiel ones. Which makes it much nicer when having the pax on the snow.
I found the overall perfomance great. It was also the quickest heli around the coast. Did temp out first at higher alt's though.
Also the fuel burn wasnt to bad either. Good thing about carrying that extra fuel, saves refueling every second or third flight.
Just my opinon
Hughesy