The 180 was a nicer aeroplane to fly than the 185. It cruised nicely at 144kts and could land on short strips.
I agree Bushy, the 180 always seemed a more balanced aircraft to fly (and even looked better in my opinion) than any of the 185's I flew.
However, I don't think I ever saw 144 out of them on cruise.
I flew a 185 with a gaggle of 180's and 185's during the Round Australia Air race in 88 and all of us were within a knot of each other at about 138 knots TAS as I remember. (All of us had everything up against the firewall)
Interestingly, there was one very late model 185 with the IO520 that was up there with all the 210's in the race and as I remember, he won his class.
Both fantastic aircraft however. Loved either much more than the 182's