The Archer is also known as the Cherokee 180 and the PA-28-180 and PA-28-181. The PA-28 family dates back to 1962 and includes aircraft from the basic Cherokee 140, with its fixed gear and fixed-pitch propeller, to the Turbo Arrow, with its turbocharged engine and retractable gear. They all share the certification of the PA-28 from 1962. The Cherokee 180/Archer, introduced in 1963, is about in the middle of that group in terms of price and performance.
The Archer DX is powered by a 155 hp Centurion 2.0S diesel engine. It comes standard with the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit system with Synthetic Vision and is fully IFR certified. Piper officials say the diesel-powered Archer is quieter inside than the Archer LX that is powered by the 180 hp Lycoming. Range and endurance are far greater. There are also plans for a retrofit program to install diesels in existing G1000 Archers.
