I forget what the sidewinder can pull in g's, but it is not very high.

As far as control input, if you consider that a very fast reaction is about .25 second, then a 170 mph airplane travels about 60-65 feet. We don't react, we anticipate. The airplanes only seem scary fast when flown by themselves. In a racing heat, you start looking at relative speed to another equally fast airplane or two. Then they seem quite slow. A good lap takes 6 seconds give or take.

You are correct that the airplanes slow down in the turns. This is due to induced drag to provide that 120+ or ++ pounds of lift. This is offset as much as possible by increasing the wing span as much as possible - limited by rules or wing structure. Induced drag is inversely proportional to the wing span squared. A modern FAI F3D pylon ship has a span around 65" currently. Fifteen years ago, they were around 50"