PA38 miserable ?
I think not ! The pepole who deride this aircraft ether don't understand it or don't have the skill to fly it with confidence.
AMEN! the PA38 is an excellent plane to fly and IMHO i great plane to learn in, one does not get away with lazy landings in the Tommie. Any slower than 65 on the approach and the boundary fence would probably be a nice arrester wire :-)
I fly the PA28 as well and the single VERY large door is fine, i just brief my pax on order of departure. Front Right PAX first followed by Rear Right Pax and the Rear Left PAX, I stay till last.
Plus the front screen is pretty big and would probably be short work for a crash axe, plus the seats fold very far forward, getting out would not be a big issue.
I guess the plus on the 172 is that i get to shut and confirm the door status as closed from the outside, this can be difficult on the PA28.
Plus that goddamn over head locking bollocks, which on a nice new one would be fine but a 70's A/C with worn clips tends to need more attention.