Daydreaming about an aircraft that Piper will never make

[Merlinspop]

I was daydreaming the other night and thinking about how Piper has a big empty spot in the single engine line between the Archer and the M350. I was wondering what sort of performance they could get out of putting the 235hp engine of a Dakota into the retractable gear Arrow, perhaps with a few simple bits of aerodynamic cleanup. Lower compression cylinders may be able to use the 94 octane Swift fuel and certainly the UL100. Would probably sport 'respectable' cross country speed (I loosely fix that at about 150ktas) and good useful load. I know manufacturers aren't obsessed with having a product in every run of the performance ladder like they were in the 60s and 70s, but, again, there's a pretty big gap in Piper's lineup these days. Maybe they've just given up that niche to Cirrus.

Anyway, what does the hive think the performance numbers of a PA28R-236 would be?

 

[philiplane]

 

[Azpilot]

 

[Warriorgreg]

 

[sierrakilo99]

 

[Ogie_ogelthorpe]

 

[Leigh]

 

[Ogie_ogelthorpe]

 

[Ogie_ogelthorpe]

 

[Warriorgreg]