I'm looking at updating my 1980 Saratoga to a later model and was wanting to draw on the experience of the members which model and year does everyone think is the best equipped still with a useful load.
eg 6X or retractable 1999 - 2004 etc etc I want to stay with normally aspirated.
I don't think there was much variability through the year range you're talking about. The factory spec empty weight on the 6X is about 200 pounds heavier than the factory spec '80 Saratoga, but that's primarily because the standard equipment airplane in '80 was a freighter. Starting in '94 Piper included passenger seats, cabin interior, and a host of other options as standard. There wasn't a significant change in the underlying airframe (the aerodynamic cleanups in '94 were close to a wash weight-wise). It's all about the options which the first owner ordered: My '88 Saratoga came from the factory with the full executive package and is a bit heavier than a "standard" 6X. Standard empty weight on the 6X is 2,216 pounds.
Retractable gear is going to cost you another 175 pounds, at least in terms of standard weight. Planes in the field usually reflect that as it's pretty hard to compensate for those particular pounds. Watch out for air conditioners: they cost another 70 pounds and were optional across the fleet. You don't want to suffer that penalty if you don't need AC.
