182 is a great plane. As far as aftermarket engines…. We are planning on a V8 engine kit next year for it, and expect an hourly operating cost of about $40-$45 with fuel, prop and engine reserves…. I was a partner in a mid 1970’s c182 and it was a bit expensive to fly as much as I wanted to, and rarely needed the extra room and payload beyond that of the cheaper c172. …so looking forward to having best of both.I think the c182 came out to be about $30-40 more to fly.
Our c172 with the V8 would be the same engine but with a constant speed prop for a 182. Not sure when it will be done as just finishing up the c172 kit now, but check our website later this year for any c182 updates.
I’m not sure there are many non-OEM engines for the c182 except the diesel conversion. Likely too expensive especially here in the states where AVGAS is relatively cheap and available. The c172 diesel initial cost is over $100K, so expect c182 a bit more.