Sam,
Dont give up on the 172 idea. People are saying buy a after market kit to make it individual, well you can make the 172 kit individual, it just takes abit of imagination. (By the way have you seen some of the excuses for bodykits that companies are bring out! lol) You could get around the so called problem of the wheels not coming out far enough by fitting 15mm spacers, although if you did this it might put abit of pressure on other components if its lowered, IMO I like the way the wheels sit slightly in.
Everyones entitled to their opinion, thats why its called a discussion forum and not a I know best forum.
Dan