In article , says...

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.


Yeah, that was my idea. I think Cessna gives something like 122KTAS for the
172R - but I have never been able to get it to go that fast in level flight.
110 or a pinch above is more typical, and that sort of cuts into the
usefulness for a plane that is otherwise very well appointed and quite
comfortable.

I thought the 180hp SP would be faster. It would be nice to at least break the
2nm/min mark in cruise.

G Faris