When I bought MSFS, I didn’t realized that the Cessna 172 was the glass cockpit only in the standard version and was not excited about all the other extra aircraft included in premium deluxe version so I decided to get the standard version expecting to buy 3rd party aircraft instead as they would be released. I was extremely sad to see that all the steam gauge aircraft are mostly not included in the standard version. My question is, should I get the piper arrow from just flight (44$ US which is about 75$ cad) or get the premium deluxe upgrade (109$ cad) and get the Cessna 172 + extra assuming I mostly fly the A320 but like to do VOR navigation flights with steam gauge aircraft.
Is the Piper Arrow that much better than the 172 ?
Note that I fly VR only and I’m worried that the just flight implementation is maybe not ready for VR yet.
I would go for the Premium Upgrade which I have.
The 172 with steam gauges is good and has flight dynamics more like the real Mccoy than some of the mire advanced GA aircraft like the Beechcraft which is very twitchy.
The Piper Arrow is a step up in performance from the 172 with its higher cruise speed and variable pitch prop
Thank you for the advice, I am also leaning more towards the 172 option which I flew in real life vs the Arrow which I didn’t. But I would love to have the extra performance as well… 
I would go all the way to the Just Flight Piper Arrow 3.
Just Flight planes tend to be more realistic than other brands like Carenado. You will find more details on one single plane than in 10 copy-pasted planes of the Deluxe version. Also, the PA3 is more fun to fly since it has more buttons, more personality, more power, you can do more stuff compared to the 172. The JF plane has more love put into it, it is a lot less generic. JF plane has a circuit breaking working, more enjoyable textures, it has a kind of EFB implemented also. You also have 2 analog Com radios and 2 analog Nav radios for VOR navigation, it has more gauges for a more safer and efficient flying. I mean, there is no way how the default 172 could win to the PA3. I would prefer always ONE good plane instead of 10 copy-pasted glass cockpit planes. Also the 172 comes with a GPS, you will have to touch or watch the GPS to read Distance information from VORs, or even to change frequencies (so long I don’t fly it, I might be wrong on this detail). And even then if one day you are tired of Analog, you open up the EFB and place the GPS you want on the cockpit, it is customizable.
Default 172 has always been that, default, generic, believe me, it has been that way for many decades.
There is a whole new level of simulation this game hasn’t reached yet, but this plane is one good step in that direction. That is the reason why many of us still fly old sims. 43 bucks is still cheap in terms of what we know it could be and will be in the case of other planes. Wait to see how much the PMDG 737 will cost for example. It has always been this way sadly, but we get what we pay
Plus one for opting for the Just Flight Arrow.
I can’t speak for the piper arrow but as I own the premium deluxe upgrade, I would recommend that. With the announcement of the mod group ‘Working Title’ being employed directly MS, I reckon we’ll see a lot of excellent improvements to the premium deluxe aircraft as a result which makes it better value to me than the high price of the piper arrow. Maybe get it later in a sale. It’s almost the price of the base sim.
Take the Arrow. It’s a more interesting plane and very well done. Faster, retractable gear. Lots of little details. Bought it minutes after it came out and it will remain my favourite for a while.
I prefer the 152 over the 172 any day.
Personally, I would go for the premium/deluxe version. At the National Museum of the United States Air Force we have training classes in ground school and then Sim Pilot classes using the steam gauge Cessna 172. Having simmed ours and my FS2020 premium/deluxe version of the 172 my FS2020 one more than meets my expectations for a non-pro fun and realistic AC. Also when I was deciding which version of FS2020 to go with I saw all those propeller AC and thought they would never interest me. Boy was I wrong! There are a couple of small stinkers in there but by and large most of them are a hoot to fly. Also it seems that their flight characteristics have significantly improved since Aug 20 introduction. Hope this helps
Do you like the existing default aircraft, particularly, do you like the way the Cessna 172-G1000 flies? If you are satisfied with that level of detail and flight modelling, then the Premium Deluxe is probably worth it for you; particularly because you get the extra handcrafted airports, which are at least better than the AI generated defaults.
OTOH, if you are a pilot in real life, the Arrow III is as close as you can get to a real aircraft in MSFS at the moment. From the sounds of it, it does have some issues around VR, but as far as the aircraft itself goes, there is just no contest between the Just Flight Arrow III and any other GA aircraft in the sim. If you are looking for realism, the Arrow III is the only high fidelity aircraft available right now (though that will hopefully change once the Aerosoft CRJ releases next week).
I’d go with the premium deluxe upgrade, that’s 10 extra planes and a few extra airports instead of buying just one fairly underwhelming and weirdly overhyped aircraft.
That would be my call. The C172 “Steam Gauge” is a joy to fly. Having most of my real world time in that A/C I can say it’s not too bad as a simulated Cessna. Plus, the “six pack” on the panel is really great, and, you still have an autopilot. 
I won’t recommend anyone going for the Premium/Deluxe upgrades as long as Asobo/MS don’t find a way to make these aircraft moddable.
Without knowing the limitations I bought it, but find myself flying with the standard edition aircraft since there are plenty mods that improve their performance, the lights, the checklists etc.
Now that I got the PA3, I even less want to touch the stock aircraft since it feels like it has more character to it, the sound is much better and I simply like the countless details that I’m missing on the default aircraft.
If the Premium/Deluxe aircraft weren’t encrypted, I’d say go for them since they have more content. But as it is I’d opt for the JF PA3.
I have premium deluxe and find that I rarely use the extra planes. I wish I saved my money as none of them really stand out from the crowd and make me want to fly them. I usually prefer flying the great community mods (eg the C152, CJ4, A32NX). Now I also have the Just Flight Piper (my first third party aircraft purchase) and I’m really enjoying it. It feels very different than any of the default GA planes and that’s a good thing. It’s also just great to have a Piper in the game now. My grandfather used to take me up in his Cherokee when I was a kid and I’ve been fascinated with aviation ever since.
I completely overlooked the steam gauge Cessna until last week when ColFork was flying it on Twitch, it’s really nice.
Well the panel looks nice and allows for different navigation, but the characteristics/performance are the same as with the standard C172 G1000 and for me are not comparable to what I get with the JF PA3.
Well, I must admit I’m even more confused about which option is the best for me. I think I’ll go the Piper way only because I want that performance difference when flying VORs. But I’ll wait till I see good feedback from people using it in VR. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts, it seems there’s great value for both choices so I may end up buying them both in the end lol.
I got both
Both here as well, but whereas the steam 172 is very pleasant, where the JF Arrow is simply stupendous. I feel super glued into the Arrow cockpit and don’t see that changing anytime soon. I do have the additional, big benefit of having Force Feedback and the Arrow is mindbogglingly good.