I'm reading this thread with some amusement.

I live most of the time in the Mooney world, occasionally wander into the dark side of Beech and Cessna :-) But mostly Mooney for 17 years. Before then I was (am) a committed 182 type driver.

In the Mooney world nothing brigs up as much chatter as "SPEED MODS" Pages and pages have been written on "speed mods" on Mooneys over the years. Maybe its more of building your own hot rod type of thinking but in the end you wind up with minimal gains for the trouble. 4 kts, here, 3 kts there as advertised but in the end maybe half of what is claimed.
Their rule of thumb? 1 AMU per knot, maybe. $5000 for 5 kts? you won't even see that in most normal flying.

IMO (50 years worth) if you want a faster airplane, go out an buy a faster airplane. There ain't no free lunch.

I do a solid 135-138 kts TAS around the 10,000' area burning 9.5/hr. I've got better than 950 lbs useful load and 5.5 hrs range (I don't sit that long any more) on 180 HP. As I remember right at 182 speeds but 3 GPH less. So at 50 hrs/year (retired flying) I'm saving less than $1000/yr in gas. Maintenance, eh, probably in the same ball park $wise.

If I needed to go faster I'd get a O-470 V tail or a Debbie. They are both a step up in speed. None of the "speed mods" on my Mooney will match that.

As I age I don't bend and fold as good as I did so the 182 may be getting the nod as for easier entry (the Bo would have the same issues). I'm thinking of finding a certain 61 182 that I flew quite a bit 35 years ago. It's still registered. Maybe the owner wants to sell.

My T182T does 145 kts at 8000 ft on 12 gal/hr and 155 it's at 16kft at 13 gal/hr.
Not A36 speeds but it hold 7 hrs of fuel.

I think the various speed mods can make a big difference.

One more thing to keep in mind is some of the early narrow body 182s are quite fast. Many will do 140 kts, on mo-gas, at 11GPH.

That's what I figured, John. Seems that the PPonk is desired by those using high elevation strips. It's why I looked for one when I was shopping for a 182. Now, I just have to get up there to put it to work.

So said the philosopher CS&N: "If you can't be with the on you love, honey, love the one you're with!"

Been in the Cessna camp since I stated flying in 1966 when we purchased a beater 170. had another 170, then a great 180 and then to my present 185 in 1976. Well almost only Cessna's. We purchased a used Super Cub in 1989 for my sons to get their PPL in back in 1989. They own a a 57 straight tail 182 that they purchased in 1991 and have restored to near new condition. They and I both love that old 182 and the way it fly's.

My friends over the years have owned Beech, Piper and Mooney aircraft, they were all good aircraft. Also have friends with other diverse aircraft including a few war birds, light and heavy and a number of other types. A few with strange quirks, but still good airplanes.

Still like the Cessna line myself. Talk about speed, most 182's are a good 150 knots with a lot of $$$ spent. The stock ones are good for 130+ knots, bear in mind there can be quite a difference between air frames speed wise.

The 180 is a little faster with out the nose gear. I have several friends that have 520's in early models with a lot of mods. They can push 200 mph.

The 185 is a great aircraft. I had a rancher friend years ago from Oregon that tried to make his K model 180 into a 185, spent big bucks and still wasn't happy, sold it and purchased a Mooney. The fastest 185 was owned by my good friend Tommy Rose. He died in 2002 racing a Quester at the Reno Air Races, it came apart at over 300 mph in a race. We had just spent several hours with him going over the changes he made to it prior to the fatal race. His 185 did 213 mph at the Sun & Fun show in the early nineties in a race there. He never would tell me what he spent to make it go that fast. He even hired an aeronautical engineer to help him prepare the 185 for that race, that 185 was highly modified, take to long to tell that story now.

In our 180/185 club there have been many aircraft modified in different ways over the years for speed. Some say just buy a Bo if you want to go fast. My 185 has the Snider speed kit with 206 wheel pants on my 800x6 rubber. Also a 88 inch Mac, Big Foot 3 blade prop. standard 3 blade on a 185 is 80 inch. Also I've removed the tail cone beacon. It is a 155 knot 185 when light and 150+ at gross, this is 8,000 feet and above.. Never have tried to see what it will do at sea level with what I have done to it. With a 550 instead of the 520 you will get 160+ knots. I have a good friend that had about the same on his 185 with a 550 and 80 inch 3 blade and it did the 160+. Most people feel a 3 blade is a little slower than a 2. Been a lot of fun over the years watching and trying different mods on our type aircraft and what different people have come up with. There is quite a difference between the same type aircraft from the factory, some are born fast.

On one last note in 1988 eight couples in the club did a 2 week trip to Alaska in our 180/185 aircraft. When we left Dawson Creek one morning headed to Eagle, AK for customs and then on to Fort Yukon, Mick Reeves was flying the original 180 previously owned by the guy that developed the speed kit for our aircraft and equipped with it and a 470 R engine. At that time I only had a 86 inch 2 blade and the 206 panties over my 800's. We were flying up the Yukon River and Mick said lets run them to see who is the fastest. We set up side by side and pushed them up, I was full throttle and kept pushing the rpm up, as I neared 2800 I thought this is dumb, what if I blow the engine out here in nowhere. We were still about the same speed and I looked at the asi and saw near red line, so they will flat smoke close to sea level.