My brain is still functioning at 180mph, a jumbled mess infected by an astonishing V4 Desmo that does naughty things. I?ve just completed two sessions aboard the Panigale V4 at Valencia?s Ricardo Tormo circuit and I?m struggling not to be embroiled by launch fever, or use the phrase ?game-changer.? My first (honest) impression" It went something like, ?holy fuuuuuuuuuuuck.?
But it isn?t the engine that’s giving me a stiffy. It?s the Panigale?s insane handling attributes. It feels like a 600 to throw around, steers like an uncompromised race bike and boasts supernatural levels of mechanical grip that goad you into taking superhero liberties with an uncrashable swagger. I had to remind myself that we were riding a stock V4S, wearing stock Supercorsa SP rubber, although the Panigale kept laughing at my puerile attempts to abuse its boundaries. That?s not to say the V4 engine isn?t impressive. This thing blurs the scenery like nothing before (no shock given its cheaty cubes), ably heightened by a sexy soundtrack. There are no peaks, no troughs, no naughty moments anywhere in the rev range ? just a seamless linear delivery.
What I can’t get my head around is the fact it still sounds like a twin at low RPM. Dawdling down the pitlane, I could well be straddling a 1299, which is due to the V4?s twin-pulse ignition and firing intervals. It?s only when the cable gets a stretching above 10,000rpm that a howling V4 symphony develops.
Despite its track prowess, the new...