Maybe my mileage did vary, but I used a mix of 172 and 161 in my initial training and passed my checkride at 48.1 hours. And to be brutally honest, I'm no ace.
Eh, compared to me, that's pretty ACEY. Aceish? Ace-like?
My checkride was at 85.5 hours and 4 months. I didn't solo until 35 hours and 7 weeks. To my credit, in the first 35 hours, I had I had 9 different CFIs, 3 makes, 4 models, and 8 tails, and a world of difficulty scheduling. There was NO structure to the training.
Things I learned in my primary training that seem important:
* MEDICAL: Start your medical early. A seemingly innocuous statement in front of the AME can lead to months of paperwork hassle.
* SELF STUDY: Have a really good ground school self study system. For the cost of 4 hours with a CFI, you can get unlimited hours with books, or Sporty's, or John & Martha. For Free, you can find an syllabus and PDFs of the FAA books. Try them all and the one that works for you. If you buy they FBO's kit, insist the instructor use it or get a refund.
* OWN YOUR SYLLABUS: Many FBO 141 courses are for the sign and their 61 training may have no structure. Always come in prepared with your own plans. Discuss the with the CFI before the flight. Engage them in working out what to study for and what you should do on the next flight.
* CFI CHOICE: Finding a CFI you like and who teaches your way can be difficult. A calm, patient, knowledgeable, and hands-off, well communicating instructor can be very helpful. The student should be doing the work, and the CFI should talk them through it. Exceptions might be a single demonstration as proof of concept.
* AIRPLANE: The plane type doesn't matter so much as sticking with one set of systems, one set of flight characteristics. Cheaper planes tend to be simpler, ie, fewer in-cockpit distractions.
* CONSISTENCY: Changing CFIs or airplanes can be very difficult. Each one has peculiarities on how they want things done. Scheduling can really make or break your training. It's extra difficult if you can't have the same days and times picked out of your own schedule.
With variety, there are bonuses in the long run, but it doesn't pay out in the short run. Keep it simple.