I have a confession to make, I've never ever been scared to ride a motorcycle like never ever.
I like it, I love it, but two years ago when I rode the Panigale V4S during the Game of
Performance Series, I came back with a lump in my throat, a lump that just refused to settle.
I couldn't fathom, how can one or how could one possibly extract to 220PS
from a street legal motorcycle.
Where does motorcycling take a pause?
The boundary keeps getting pushed through commas only, but this, this is what I love
and I'm here to face it all over again.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to PowerDrift and welcome to the 2021 review
of the Ducati Panigale V4S.
Just look at this, still red, still super sport, so sharp, so sexy, so aerodynamic.
I'm mean, it has to be right, it's a fikkin' litre-class motorcycle.
But there are updates that have happened for the year 2021.
For starters, the fairing is wider, the flyscreen has been redesigned so that you have a better
tuck when you're riding at high speeds, the fins have been reworked as well, and with
what I'm being told, the rear two cylinders shut off when you're riding it in tight traffic,
I don't know why you will do that, but when you do that the rear two cylinders shut off
so that your cohones are not getting cooked.
But the most significant update is going to be the addition of winglets, standard for
the V4S, standard for the year 2021 and as far as winglets and downforce go, here's what
I have to say, a wheelie is a racer's worst enemy, when the front wheel starts to come up wheelie
control kicks in, electronics kick in, it also means you're cutting power, so when it
cuts power, you're definitely putting out a slower lap time.
With the addition of winglets, there's additional downforce, of course, the numbers can be read
on the text titles, right about now.
But I experienced it in a way where after 250, 260, 270 kilometres per hour when you
slot in the sixth gear, and you're in that power band, the front just refuses to float,
it just stays so planted and that's the beauty of aerodynamics, that's the beauty of having
winglets on a motorcycle.
It's not just fast, this is reality, this is development, this is technology and almost
all of this is carried on from the race ready V4 R, for me, that is a big check.
Now for the year 2021, Ducati have made the V4S manageable.
There are permutations and combinations that you can access and switch between when you
go into engine settings, between high, medium and low, but here at the racetrack, I was
riding it mostly in the high mode, which is all out performance and in spite of being
in this mode, the bike just feels a whole lot comfortable.
However, when you switch it to the medium mode, the torque for the first three gears
is just easier to get a grasp of, when you're exiting a corner you will most likely be in
these gears most of the time, and the Panigale instead of going...goes...
When you go beyond that, it still is very much a wild, wild bike. Unless you're a top
level racer like Rajini or a test rider like Pirro or Alessandro Valia, who's constantly
trying to be on the gas all the time, you will feel the difference between the old and the new.
One look at the official Ducati test charts and you will see the improvement over the older model.
A 10th over a lap feels huge, but a full second during a race is a lifetime.
If you're a MotoGP fan, then you must have heard riders talking about feel quite a lot.
Now some part of this feel actually corresponds to how the engine behaves.
But for the most part of it, it actually corresponds to how the suspension behaves because suspension
for a MotoGP rider, a rider of that calibre is of utmost importance.
Now, this is a V4S which means it gets the electronic suspension from Ohlins, top-of-the-line and
never once did I feel the suspension behaving oddly or weirdly.
Now suspension, if it has to be set right, means a rider being comfortable on the straights,
when you're entering a corner, in the corner and when you finally exit the corner.
Now this is top-of-the-line stuff, of course there's an option of adjusting this manually
as well and you can do that when you come to a track day like this where to Ducati technicians
are waiting for you in your pits, but why make them do the work, when the motorcycle
can do it for you.
When I first saw the official film of the V4S, I was blown away with what Valia was
doing, the lean angles, the ease with which the bike was turning, left my jaw on the floor.
The V4S feels like a footballer playing at his home ground on a weekend, so comfortable,
so agile, so incredibly precise.
Even when I overshot my apex on more than a couple of occasions, a nice hook turn got
the bike back on track without any hassle.
The V4S also gets Marchesini forged rims, which is a big performance upgrade over the
cast wheels.
How different is the riding experience from the standard V4 is something I wouldn't know,
but just the V4S, ooh lala, such a delight.
Okay, there's updates to the electronics on the V4S for the year 2021, but here's my understanding
with electronics, whenever you see lights flashing on your instrument console, it means
you're pushing the motorcycle a little too much.
For example, if you're on the straight and you whack open the throttle, the front wheel
starts to come up, wheelie control will cut power.
If you're in a corner and you go heavy on the gas and the rear starts to step out,
traction control will kick in, but for the year 2021 it's almost made me, if I can call it that
reckless, I mean that's how good the electronics package is.
Ducati of course has been doing this for a really long time, ever since the first V4,
V4S came out, but it's just gotten better, the one big update that's there to this package
is going to be the traction control which is now a lot smoother and I got to experience
it once, I kept the traction control to, to its lowest setting and I went around a corner,
deliberately went hard on the gas, the rear stepped out and it didn't intrude where it
cut in instantly, it went out, traction control kicked in, came back in smoothly and I was
on my way, that's how good the package is.
As for the rest, it's a V4S, which means it gets pretty much everything else, so wheelie
control, there's, like I said, traction control there's slide control, everything that will
keep you in control.
I'm convinced that the Stylema callipers from Brembo are the best braking units in the world
when it comes to stock production motorcycles.
Two years ago, in the same circuit when I started to brake at the end of the backstraight,
I thought I slammed too early because it came to a stop almost instantly, from 300 kilometres
per hour to 80 kilometres per hour, just like that.
These brakes inspire so much confidence that by the time you get comfortable with the motorcycle,
you're actually pushing the braking marker more and more every single time.
And for the year 2021, the clutch and brakes have self-bleeding pumps, the bubbles formed
in the lines are pushed towards a collection tank, so that braking is consistent and onpoint
every single time, incredible.
It's time to sum it up.
Am I feeling scared again?
Am I confident now?
Well, it's definitely the latter because the changes that Ducati has made to the 2021 V4S
are small, but they are significant and you will be surprised when you hear this, but
this bike is a whole lot more manageable.
To put things into perspective, there's a lion that is well fed and then there's a lion
that's hungry, the earlier generation used to feel like a cat that wanted to hunt all
the time, always on the prowl, this one feels content, relaxed,
easy to ride and much more in control.
Mind you, at the end of the day, this is still a V4S which means, when you open the throttle,
it'll still give you that little giggle in your stomach, it'll still be that motorcycle
which is full of character, it'll still keep you on the edge,
but this time around, it feels a lot more polished.
I still think the S 1000 RR is one of the friendliest litre-class motorcycles you can ride,
it's so linear, so easy to ride, the power can be harnessed very very easily.
The V4 however, feels like a motorcycle which is in a league of its own, both in terms of
character, as well as pricing because Rs. 28.5 lakh ex-showroom
for the V4S is definitely not a cheap price tag.
But, at the end of the day, hungry or not, the lion is still a wild animal.