I`d take that as a load of old b****cks pumped out by the press office for consumption by journo`s and a public that know no better.
All Ph2 sports have the same front subframe in common, part number 8200107153, and in fact the 182 had a narrower track than the 172 Cup,
due to a reduction in the wheel offset from ET38 to ET43., though the std Ph2 172 had an offset of ET48.5.
Same goes for the wheelbase claim., though the revised front wishbones, with extended castor for 172 Cup and utilised on all later 182`s, part numbers
8200257956/7 would have marginally extended the wheelbase over the std Ph1 & 2`s, using 6000073511/2.
I prefer to some solid research before I spout, and don`t rely on Google.