I fly both PA28s and R2160s from Sherburn, where I trained on PA28s - and did the R2160 conversion after gaining a licence.
True, the R2160 is great to fly, and does not seem over lively - just very responsive.
However, I would sound a note of practicality in training. Sherburn has 4 PA28-Cadets and 3 PA28-Warriors available for training. Has 2 R2160s for basic training and aerobatic training. I'd suspect that the availability of PA28s is much greater consequently, and will give you more flexibility.