I guess I will chime in as the resident CSIP. I have about 1000 hours in Cirrus aircraft, including conventional six pack, avidyne, and perspective, as well as the turbo charged models. I have been a CSIP for about 4 years. Total time is about 2700, with about 1600 dual given.

The Cirrus is NOT your garden variety 4 place high performance aircraft. You can't learn the aircraft in 25 hours, yet you can become proficient enough to safely learn the aircraft, keeping within your personal minimums, of course, in a relatively short time frame. On average, it takes 10 to 12 hours for someone to feel comfortable enough in it to fly it without an instructor and not feel like they are holding on to the tail. I have over 800 hours dual given in them, so I think I have a pretty good handle on it. The fastest I have ever completed a transition with a student is 3.5 hours. This guy was an 11000 hour professional pilot with thousands of hours with Garmin avionics, and a very natural stick also. I have had students take over 25 hours. I have done primary training, transition training, instrument training, and CFII training in them.

Once you learn the systems, and assuming everything else is working, it is the best single engine, 4 place, single pilot IFR aircraft out there. It takes about 50 hours for most people to learn it well, and about 100 hours before you really feel like you are one with the plane, again averages here.

Because of all the different variations over the years, it takes a long time to learn all the different systems. The Avidyne system was actually the best system for most pilots as it was the most intuitive. The Perspective system has a lot of whiz bang stuff, but can confuse the average transitioning pilot more than is comfortable. It's great for the professional pilot, though.

For those who actually believe a Cirrus won't come out of a spin, I have been there, and it will. Idleize, neutralize, kick, push, pull. Comes right out, just like everyone else. Also had to demonstrate spins to get certified in Europe. Long story there, so I won't bore you with the details.

For the uninformed pilot who knows nothing about the stall characteristics of the Cirrus, the SR20 likes to break to the right, but is not unmanageable. The SR22, if you stay coordinated, is as docile as a PA28. You can hold full aft elevator, keep it coordinated, and it will just mush down. Really a non-event. I have done it for a couple of hundred feet. Again, I have been there. If you are having trouble with your 22, you either have a serious problem with your airframe and should have your mechanic look it over, or you don't know how to fly it.

For the guy going through the CSIP training, if you would like to talk about Cirrus training, PM me your contact info. I would be happy to help.

On a final note, I checked out in a Cirrus before I was ever an instructor. I focused on doing Cirrus training when I became an instructor. As such, I only have about 150 hours in Cessna 172's, and about 1000 in Cirrus, where I have been able to charge up to 65 per hour flying some of the best equipment in the GA fleet. It was one of the best decisions I made!