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There is an increased risk of pedal strike with longer cranks but I've never really had a problem.
Julia is spot on, the correct length cranks improves the efficiency of your pedalling and also provides more of a lever when hill climbing. Obviously it will reduce your pedalling efficiency if you use cranks that are too long.
In terms of whether you notice a few mm difference here and there, the answer is yes. Each time I switched between 170 and 175mm cranks I could not longer clip in as easily because my muscle memory of where my pedals were was 5mm out!
All of my bikes are 175 now. As long as you don't filter next to tall curbs or lean whilst going over a speed bump there really is not much of a chance of pedal strike.