I owned a '72 177B for 4 yrs and logged 700 hrs flying it. It would have been more, but the wife flew half the trips we took together.
I found it to be a very stable IFR platform, although I did try to stay out of the really rough stuff with it. A Stormscope helped with that.
My experience is it flys much more responsively than the other high wing Cessnas and the lower end Pipers, especially at lower operating weights. The big flaps made landings much more consistently satisfying than other planes I've flown, including short fields, but that may be due to the time I accumulated in one rather quickly. The main thing I learned to do to when landing is to conciously pull a constant back pressure on the yoke prior to touchdown, which meant having to smoothly pull the yoke fully aft as you slowed to touchdown. It's an acquired habit in the Cardinal, but it will help you land at the slowest possible speed in the shortest distance. Too often I see pilots try to drive them on and all that does is increase the float and rollout distance.
The visibility over the wing is an asset in turns. I would be careful flying it near gross on a hot day, as one should with any single engine light plane. If anything it taught me to be patient as it's not a speed demon or a homesick angel, but it is very comfortable flying cross country.
I planned for 10gph and usually saw fuel burns in the 9.2-9.5 gph range. I flew it at the top of the green 95% of the time and had no major issues with the 180hp O-360.
The two mechanical issues I remember having with it was a cracked carb heat airbox and a cracked alternator mounting bracket. Engine parts were relatively easy to obtain. Airframe parts could be had if you were patient with the suppliers.
There's a pretty active support group for the type and several "speed" mods available that can give a modicum of improvement in cruise.
My wife appreciated the ease of entry/exit with those big doors.
I sold it for non-aviation related reasons. I would have really enjoyed being able to keep it, but life gets in the way of what you really want to do sometimes.
