Plane & Pilot 2017 Buyer’s Guide: Single-Engine Piston Planes

Newcomers, upgrades, and old favorites: 20 piston singles for 2017.

Plane & Pilot

Tuesday, January 31, 2017 at 08:13 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The market for piston singles offers a diverse range of aircraft, from utility trainers to pressurized six-place screamers, including significant updates to existing models and new certifications.
Modern piston singles heavily feature advanced avionics, with Garmin's G1000 NXi/Perspective+ and G3000 touch-controlled suites being prominent across many models, enhancing safety and user experience.
The Cirrus SR22 G6 remains the best-selling piston single, distinguished by its updated avionics and standard whole-airplane recovery parachute system.
Key advancements across the featured aircraft include improved comfort, increased speed and range, enhanced safety features (like anti-icing and synthetic vision), and better pilot/passenger amenities.

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Cirrus SR22 G6

Once again, the best-selling piston single is the Cirrus SR22. The 2017 model, the G6, has features that will attract new customers and get existing ones to trade up to this year’s model. The SR22, available in normally aspirated and turbocharged models, is a fast, high-flying single with a whole-airplane recovery parachute system. The big news this year is the avionics suite. Cirrus is the launch customer for Garmin’s brand-new G1000 NXi suite with its upgraded Perspective+ cockpit, a great upgraded edition of the avionics maker’s seminal flat-panel solution. With faster, sharper, more user-friendly and more capable functionality, Perspective+ will turn heads and attract even more buyers.

Niche: Premium fixed-gear

Base Price: $639,900

Competitors: Mooney Acclaim Ultra, Cessna TTx, Piper Matrix

Read our Cirrus SR22T G6 pilot report.

Cirrus SR22T G6 Specifications

Learn more at Cirrus Aircraft.