One man's meat etc. I much prefer the Cessna to the Piper although I'll quite happily fly the Piper, there's nothing much wrong with it.
Advantages of a Cessna;
It has two doors.
You can dip the tanks, you have to do a guestimate with a Piper.
It (in my limited experience) has much better short field ability given the same engine and weight. If I'm flying into a shortish strip I'll always take a 172.
The fuel cock is easily reachable and you don't have to faff around with a fuel pump or changing tanks.
The back seat passenger view is much better.
Cessnas are what a 'proper' light aircraft looks like in my eyes, not that it matters a damn.
I'll give you the Piper is more stable and easier to land, not that the Cessna is at all difficult. If IFR I'll take a Piper given the choice although I'll quite happily fly a 172 on instruments.
Edit: Just as an afterthought, you're right about the Pussy Galore connection, all those pretty ladies flying their Pipers. You may also have noticed that with the plethora of bush/arctic flying programs that we have on TV these days that everyone flies Cessnas, you never see a Piper.
Thus we can safely conclude that Pipers are for women and Cessnas are for men...
