I have about 160 hours in PiperSport and SportCruiser and recently had the opportunity to fly the Bristell with Liberty Sport Aviation in Lancaster, PA. These folks are highly knowledgable and their team can explain every aspect of the plane and product line moving forward in detail.
As Paul has said, the designer Bristela has been working many generations of design and development... including some designs that were only seen in Europe.
The Bristell is sleeker than the SportCruiser, most notably in the cowl and fuselage. Aluminum is thinner. Rivets are closer together. Wigs are wet. Useful load I believe is higher. The cowl can accommodate a 912is. The plane I flew was 912ULS. Access for easy maintence was a high priority in cowl design.
Seat backs are higher. Must be careful not to lean on them too hard.
Seats are reclined quite a bit. I jumped in a familiar PiperSport after flying the Bristell and immediately noticed that the seat position is more upright in the PiperSport.
Ergonomics are greatly improved. Think BMW.
Nice armrests. Seat belts will pull towards the belly button to tighten.
Canopy latch is push button.
Nose gear has a shock of some kind well hidden and is reportedly more robust.
Nose-wheel steering and toe brakes. Fixed seats, adjustable rudders, same rudder pedals as the SportCruiser in a slightly narrower footwell. Nose-wheel steering is highly responsive. We actually did slalom between the runway centerline dashes!! Another brake option is available... a hand brake activated by pulling the throttle back past idle. Trim is on the console.
LED landing lights, super bright in the wings.
Bristela is constantly doing design updates, many aerodynamic refinements of flight surfaces, etc.
better resistance to turbulence etc.
It flies a lot like the SportCruiser. Cruise and climb were probably slightly better. If I flew it more control harmonies other aerodynamic refinements would likely become more noticeable and appreciated.
The demo pilot that I flew with had me do a lot of slow flight mush near stall.
Of course, it could have broken into a stall deliberately, but the emphasis was on the good manners to mush and resist stall. The plane really did tend to "hang in there" in the mush.
Incoming designs from Bristell are HOT! Think Porsche.
Very much boutique with custom build options.
They are making retractable and taildraggers in Europe.
Euro a Site:
http://www.brmaero.com
USA site:
http://www.bristell.us/home.html
There might be E-AB and E-LSA build options as well.
(Disclaimer: Details stated are my best understanding from personal experience. Facts should be verified with the importer.)