Ever since the outfit I rent from has added a Cirrus SR22-G3 GTS to their fleet, I’ve wondered if it’s worth going for it. I currently rent a C152 for my own personal flying and a C172 for trips with friends (usually on a cost sharing basis). When I rent a C172, depending on where I get it and the exact type, I pay between 130 EUR (club rental, older models) and 270 EUR (glass cockpit C172SP from a flying school) per hour wet (billed as flying time from take-off to landing). I usually get the cheap ones for longer trips and the 172SP for shorter day trips to stay current with the EFIS.
The Cirrus would cost me 470 EUR per hour wet flying time (incidentally, just as much as their Diamond twins). That’s a lot of money. On the other hand (says the devil on my left shoulder), if you account for the cost of a trip, the time flown will be considerably less due to higher speed. First question: What is your average cruise speed in a turbo SR22? I don’t want to base this on the book values. I.e. in theory, if I chose the Cirrus for all “day trip to an island”-like missions, the financial impact would be manageable.
Of course, I would still need to account for some solo flying, staying current (it requires a type rating, correct?) etc. which WILL be painful at that hourly rate.
So much for the financial considerations.
I have been flying for two years now (1 1/2 as a license holder) and have around 110 hours total. I still enjoy flying the Cessnas, too. Would you think it’s too early to transition to an aircraft like the Cirrus? Do I need to be worried not to be experienced enough yet to handle it properly? Am I too much of a Cessna “driver”? Obviously, you can really only find out with an instructor and in the airplane.
Would you think it’s too early to transition to an aircraft like the Cirrus?
Absolutely not 
Post-PPL, I had about 100hrs before I got the TB20. I had no problems whatever. The main thing is that you do need to “fly by numbers” rather more e.g. plan your descents.
You don’t need a Type Rating but you may need a complex signoff of some sort. And the insurance should mandate type specific specialist training.
€470/hr is a lot of money but it is interesting. If it is airborne time, it is a lot less than the traditional UK method of brakes-off to brakes-on (which breeds all kinds of bizzare practices, from renters). An SR22 used to hang out at Shoreham a few years ago, and it was about €300/hr, but (a) that was brakes-on to brakes-off (which increases the cost of a typical Le Touquet “bird impressing” trip (most of the mission profile of that one) by about 1.2x) and (b) on top of that you had to spend a few k a year to purchase an hour-block (that was done to discourage people from flying it just 1hr a year, as well as some legal reasons maybe). So, about the same as yours.
And yes the SR22 is faster so you spend less time on a particular trip. But you will just do longer trips – because you can! 
it requires a type rating, correct?
Under EASA type ratings are only required for jets and multi-engine turbine (MET) aircraft. SET, MEP and SEP are class ratings.
As you already have the SEP class rating, you only need a “difference training” for the single-lever power control. IMHO, one also needs a difference training for the first EFIS aircraft one is flying – you should have already done that for the C172. In real life, this difference training is nothing more than a familiarisation flight (or a reasonable number of flights) with a FI/CRI.
I have never flown a SR22, but have a few hours in the SR20 and found it very easy to handle.
Many Cirrus rental places will want 10hrs on type for the SR20 and possibly more for the SR22 – so that might be a consideration. They may even need you to do the Cirrus CSIP training.
You need to check out the small print.
My old CFI once asked “what makes planes fly?” and I tried to drivel on about the coefficient of lift etc… The answer he was actually looking for was ‘money’. I doubt you are really going to make savings by flying the SR22, not as a renter with transitional training and currency requirements, but if you have the money, and you enjoy it, why not. I’ve fairly recently spent what is probably a reasonable days’s rental flying costs in a SR22 (so many thousands of pounds) on top grade camera equipment because that little devil on my shoulder was hard to shake off. Will I take much better photos (possibly in the extremes, yes) but otherwise no, but do I enjoy it – oh yes :-) Was it a totally wise investment – no, but hey, it made me happy. You got to have fun :-)
I have been flying a normally aspirated SR22 since 2007. I started with about 65 hours total time and have now done just under 1500 hours.
I recommend STRONGLY that you do a proper Cirrus transition training course with a Cirrus Certified instructor. Please don’t settle for anything less.
On speeds, my NA does 160 KTAS burning 12 USGPH at FL 170 which is the effective operating ceiling (POH says 17500 ft)
Yes, do the training with a CSIP. In England John Page comes to mind, he surely is one of the most experienced. It makes very little sense to get a checkout from instructors that are not real Cirrus specialists, but of course there are many very experienced SR22 pilots who could do it. The experience in type is more important that in other types.
A “G3-GTS” is not a turbo by the way, that would be a nornally aspirated SR22, 3rd generation.
For the NA version I calculate with 165 KTAS for flightplans, in FL110 I see 170 to 172 KTAS at 13.2-13 Gallons per hours (LOP operation!) on most flights. If you don’t care about fuel cost 180 to 186 are possible, depending on the version and weight (!) … and up high a Turbo will be up to 217 KTAS. But you will not fly in FL250 as a beginner, at least I wouldn’t recommend it.
Savings: the only people who you might convince that will save money with the Cirrus, might be your wife. For the first two months … You will want to fly more and more and you will want to fly far .. . and you will want to fly all the time.
And yes the SR22 is faster so you spend less time on a particular trip. But you will just do longer trips – because you can!
Peter hit the nail on the head.
Rhino,
My 2 cents:
-even disregarding my previous post, on a cost-per-mile basis, it will still cost you much more than a 172. It might cost double, but will not cruise double as fast.
-the Cirrus is not single lever by EASA standards (no FADEC), so you only need the EFIS difference training
-as you will know, the checkout time required for any particular aircraft is nowadays not a matter of the handling. This stems back to days when aircraft were “difficult” to fly and that’s 70 years ago (think Tiger Moth). Modern aircraft are very easy to fly (a medium skilled pilot has mastered an SR22 in one hour, but the difficult part nowadays is the (avionics) systems and “managing” the flight and the aircraft properly.
