I am always a bit frustrated when the 178 seconds to live number is quoted. It is one of those cases where the headline, quoted out of context, makes the situation sound very different to the detail, a bit like the origin of the phrase "the lucky country".
As pointed out above it was the average time to lose control for pilot who had had no previous instrument training and without any instruments. I believe that further studies showed that with a small amount of training and basic instruments that the average time to lose control significantly increased.
I understand that this research was the reason for the introduction of 3 hours of instrument time in the FAA PPL but cant categorically confirm this to be the case.