So what do you think? (This was the track test) Overall scores. [/quote] Road Test summary [/quote] At least the 1199 was the lightest [/quote]
Shows how different the new bike is. Low corner speed?! Low torq?! Mid corner prowess?! Tbh more I see and hear from owners, more I'm inclined to think may be a step forward and a couple back at this stage, sure v2.01 will be more like it
MV's dyno readings are not a pretty sight .......... but the KTM's do remind me of something .... oh yep, that's it .... a big torquey twin cylinder engine! Why on earth did someone at Ducati decide to chase top end HP figures (where they can never really match the IL4's) at the expense of a hole right where you'd want the torque on the road? Sure, it can be mapped out, but why should you have to pay to smooth it out ......? Oops silly question - it's Ducati!
Oh dear... Of course all fairly meaningless as something that scores "3" in a category can still be marvellous - just not as marvellous as the thing that scored "10", unless "1"= "dire" and "3"= astonishingly average and disappointing. The MV does look gutless, though, whichever way you examine the graphs.
Ah-ha! You mean the track test was done on an oval (with dirt possibly) and the road test was a particularly straight piece of highway in Kansas. Now it all makes sense!
Been thinking about this for a while now and came to these conclusions. 1. Possibly just possibly they designed that way because if they went down the conventional torque route the chances of it spitting people up the road were enormous, with or without DTC and ... 2. There's a good chance it'll lunch camchains in about 3 minutes if they made it really torque heavy, why stress the engine unnecessarily at low revs, create the power at the top and develop in the torque as and when required. 3. As Bradders says V2.01 should be better, I hope so.
P1. I was and still am a firm believer if you can not control it without TC on day to day use you should not have it. Sorry but if it spits you out at 1/3cthrottle then open it to 1/4 max so it does not. It is not an excuse, there is plenty of supercars with more power then people can handle you do not see Ferrari selling 458 with power limit. Different maps at a switch yes. P2. If it lunches cam chains as to much torque redesign cam chains not limit entire engine, not an excuse sorry. Also 1199 is a road bike and torque is much more important then top HP. Long gone are days where ducati develops a racer then sticks lights/mirrors on it and off they go to show room. If you want a gutless bike at bottom/mid range that develops more power/torque higher at rev range there is plenty all IL4, as some said why they try to compete top HP against IL4vthey are destined to loose. Stick to torque that is what attracts Ducati owners, the change. P3. It is engine designed to do that so I guess if they are to fix it then it will not be V2.0 but rather new engine.
Would it be unreasonable to think that it is WSBK that guides Ducati in developing its superbike, rather than road-going necessities? The Panigale and its motor are probably designed with the next few years of WSBK in mind. It makes reasonable sense. The Ducati brand is forged in racing and WSBK is the championship they win. If they become also-rans in both MotoGP and WSBK, the brand will lose its lustre and all sorts of consumers will desert it over time. So they can't very well opt out of the horsepower race.
Must admit to having a soft spot for the S1000RR I think you get a lot of bike for your money. There were a few on a recent trackday I did and they do turn my head in track/race trim.
So the YR1 comes bottom, but is made by the current leading force in MGP, a lot of tie in between their street and race bike then? I'm sure from the number of Panigale's (not many) at WDW and the huge number of Multi's and quite a few Diavels that Race reps are losing their importance. Current 1 litre street bike performance is humungous and not really needed, even on the continent this week the number of places you can do 180mph are limited. Or if you are Gavin the number of places you can do 165mph are even more limited now he's excluded from France. ;-) Nice one Gav!! Anyways the journey through Germany and Austria is far more picturesque.
Don't count on doing anything funny in Austria. That really is a country where they are white hot on speeding.
We didn't speed though, we followed the limits very carefully after Gav's incident with the Gendarmerie. Of course we also gave it the berries when there was no limit most of the way through Germany.
Luca, you mistake my meaning. I'm not happy that they've "turned the torque down" either. I agree that if you can't handle it get out of the kitchen etc ..... The problem lies I think with the sodding Americans who in this day and age will sue you for anything they can. Now that Ducati have Rossi and Hayden on board there profile stateside is higher than it's ever been, it's no coincidence that the panigale had a high profile launch. Now that Audi are on board the game just got serious, real serious, they are/will be chasing market share with as much gusto as can be maintained. The words corporate gangfuck spring to mind, dumbing down the engine at the bottom end is a legal safety net. I'm fairly certain that camchains can be designed to take the stick the engine has to offer, but again if you were Ducati why risk the chances of early failures/recalls at this stage of the game, too much reputation and development at stake, again it's a corporate safety net. I still believe this engine can be truly great with the right amount of development, only time will tell out on that. DP Ti camchain? Re profiled cams? etc - certainly sir?? Who knows where it will go.
But the engine now starts to have the revvy characteristics of an IL4 the only good thing is the narrow aerodynamic shape remains. The torque isn't as evident as in the Testastretta even if the numbers suggest it's there. Why buy a slower twin with engine characteristics you don't want? Stick with the torquier twins we love, that in the real world are just as fast A to B and leave the over square short strokes to the race bikes?
