With EICMA being just around the corner, Ducati decided it shouldn’t let fans wait, and it fully revealed the all-new Panigale V4, thus beginning a new chapter in its history regarding looks, performance, and technology.
For those who came in late, the big news with the 2018 Ducati Panigale V4 is the fact that it’s getting powered by a vee-four engine descending directly from the MotoGP Desmosedici unit, concentrating all Ducati’s racing expertise into a new production powerhouse designed to be used on the streets.
The new 90-degree V4 powerhouse displaces 1,103 cc, uses Desmodromic timing and develops a whopping 214 horsepower, offering the bike a power-to-weight ratio of 1.1 hp/kg. If you’re mad and you want more power, it can furthermore be extended by mounting the all-titanium racing exhaust specially made by Akrapovic as per Ducati Corse specifications.
More cylinders translates to more weight, so the engineers had to redesign the chassis. The resulting new one called a Front Frame, which is more compact and lighter than a perimeter frame and uses the engine as a stressed member.
This solution allowed designers to create a sportbike that is slender in the tank-seat merge zone, which, together with the seat/handlebar/footpeg triangulation, ensures great bike-rider integration.
All that power and the weight set at 195 kg (430 lb) would probably intimidate your average rider, but don’t worry, as Ducati has integrated so many electronic nannies into this bike that anyone can ride it safely.
Thanks to the potential of the six-axis Bosch inertial platform, the new Panigale V4 comes with systems such as controlled drift during braking, cornering ABS only on the front wheel to better suit track days, and a quickshifter that takes lean angles into account. All these pile up on top of the new Race, Sport, and Street riding modes adjustable via the advanced TFT panel that comes standard on the bike.
Finally, there are three flavors the new model can be had: the standard Panigale V4, Panigale V4 S with Ohlins suspension, Smart EC 2.0, aluminum rims, and lithium-ion battery, and the exclusive Panigale V4 Speciale, a numbered, limited-edition with a special livery, titanium exhaust, and machined components.
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