This Is Ducati's New 206bhp, MotoGP-Derived V4 Superbike Engine

The Desmosedici Stradale is the engine to pick up where the old and legendary Ducati V-twin left off, and will be the first four-cylinder engine ever fitted to its sports bikes
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You’re looking at a milestone engine. Whether you’re into bikes or not, what Ducati has done here is like Porsche making the 911 a V8. After decades of success with V-twin engines, cracking the 200bhp boundary in the process, Ducati’s first sports V4 is here.

Called the Desmosedici Stradale, referring to its 16 ‘Desmodromic’ valves and its street state of tune, the 1103cc unit is larger than the MotoGP unit to access more torque at lower engine speeds via a longer 53.5mm stroke. The 81mm bore is the same as the GP bike’s engine, and the two engines’ plumbing is very similar. We already know it sounds pretty fine.

With 206bhp at 13,000rpm, it starts at around the same horsepower as the pinnacle V-twin, indicating that it’s only going upwards from here. Ducati has previously said there was no more it could do with the two-pot without cranking capacity up, which could rule it out of various racing classes.

Angled at 90 degrees, the banks of two cylinders keep weight distribution well suited to the chassis that Ducati has been building for years. It’s naturally balanced in the way it’s set up, say the Italians, so it needs no balancing shaft and revs beyond 14,000rpm. The firing order is a ‘big bang’ style, with cylinders one and two firing together, followed by three and four together.

Ducati's racing Panigale R (pictured) will be replaced wholesale for the 2019 season
Ducati's racing Panigale R (pictured) will be replaced wholesale for the…

It uses the same type of counter-rotating crankshaft as found on MotoGP engines; the shaft spinning in the opposite direction to the wheels. It helps to compensate for the gyroscopic effect produced by the wheels, letting riders flip the bike from side to side more easily. Apparently, it also makes a bike less prone to wheelies.

It’s nowhere near as fussy as you’d think in terms of maintenance, either, with standard full services only needed once every 15,000 miles. We’d bet oil changes will be half that, though.

Ducati's Desmosedici MotoGP bike is one of the fastest in the field
Ducati's Desmosedici MotoGP bike is one of the fastest in the field

This isn’t the end, though. An ‘R’ version aimed at track riders is on the way, with less than 1000cc, a higher rev ceiling and more screaming top-end power. It’s that version of the engine that will be the basis of the homologated race-spec version due to hit global circuits ahead of the 2019 season.

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Comments

Tomislav Celić

So that’s 200bhp in something that weights like 3 times less than a Ford Fiesta

09/07/2017 - 12:44 |
50 | 2

Das like 1000hp per tonne

09/07/2017 - 13:06 |
10 | 1

more than what a BRZ/ 86 has gg

09/09/2017 - 06:35 |
0 | 0
TheBagel

Balls add +250 lbs.

09/07/2017 - 15:06 |
8 | 0

You’ll need those skid pads on them like on their knees for cornering.

09/07/2017 - 18:08 |
3 | 0
Anonymous

There is still the Kawasaki Ninja H2R coming. 228kw/310hp sound scary.

09/07/2017 - 15:47 |
5 | 0
*Stanced Mitata* (MiataSquad) (JDM Squad) (RX-7Squad) (Stan

i still want to put the v4 in a miata

09/07/2017 - 15:50 |
4 | 1
Anonymous

Imagine putting the engine into a Honda Beat or a Suzuki Cappuccino

09/07/2017 - 15:55 |
14 | 0
Olivier (CT's grammar commie)

“Desmosedici”

No way that name won’t get written badly

09/07/2017 - 16:13 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

Now that everybody is upping their game, I can’t wait for BMW’s answer !

09/07/2017 - 17:12 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Can someone with more knowledge on motorbike engines explain to me, why are the injectors before the throttle body or i’m missing something?

09/07/2017 - 19:09 |
4 | 0
MultiCOOLFRESH

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

It is single point inection with 4 throttle bodies. Motorcycles do not need MPI or direct fuel injection, because fck emissions and fck fuel economy :D. But I actualy do not know, why they do that

09/07/2017 - 20:06 |
3 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I assume it’s for better atomisation of the fuel at high revs
Put the injectors in to the head and it would not atomise effectively
The same principles apply to Individual Throttle bodies on cars

09/07/2017 - 22:10 |
2 | 0
Kavinda Bandara

Proven- no replacement for displacement

09/08/2017 - 01:44 |
2 | 0

The Desmosedici Stradale is smaller than previous 1299 Panigale V2: the V4 is ~1.1 litres and the V2 is ~1.28.
Yet the V4 makes 5hp more than the V2 (but around 20nm less torque unfortunately…)

09/08/2017 - 07:08 |
0 | 0
iWillGetAnR34GTR

Car manufacturers are downsizing…

Meanwhie @Ducati: double the cylinder count

09/08/2017 - 03:59 |
1 | 0

Dont forget lamborghini….wait…oh nvm

09/08/2017 - 04:56 |
0 | 0