"Aaron Coolidge" wrote in message
...
Dude wrote:
: PS

: I have heard from more than one person, including a Cessna rep that R
models
: actually cruise faster than S models. I dunno whether this is the
weight or
: the prop.

: Just in case you wanted the extra speed rather than the load, climb or
: altitude.

I've flown both & studied both POH's. The 172R (160HP) says to use 85%
power for cruise. Amazingly enough, 85% of 160 is the same as 75% of 180!

The SP climbs a bit better in the configuration I flew in which was well
under gross, but you can load it up more than the R as I recall cutting
into
the perfromance delta.
--
Aaron C.


The SP definitely climbs better, but they usually come with more avionics as
well. I have flown both, but I never compared the cruises myself. I do
remember the climb being better in the SP.