Bose, I have no interest in fudging the figures - I fly both the P2002JF (which is a certified version of an LSA) and a range of GA aircraft regularly. The figures I've given are those I see routinely.
LSAs are not for every mission but I think the point being made by some posters is that if there's a discussion going, we can at least get the facts right.
The training experience I see varies widely: one school I know of here has been using P2002s for several years without incident. Another has had problems with Sportstars and nosewheels. I hesitate to draw any generalizations as the statistics are small. But there's a general recognition that GA pilots in LSAs are accident prone in the familiarization stages. I could elaborate but if you fly LSAs, you are probably quite aware of the traps.
By the way, I see the P2002JF is now NVFR approved but, frankly, I wouldn't regard any LSA as a great instrument platform. That said, I enjoy having a full panel in my own aircraft - habit I guess.
You can't have it both ways on the power/weight criticism: yes, they are leanly built but the typical 100 hp Rotax gives a sizeable performance gain over a similar power in a heavier C152 etc. That's noticable in cruise but, in my case, the really big difference is the climb performance in elevated ambient temperatures.