Getting its public reveal at the 2024 World Ducati Week is the Ducati Panigale V4S. Coming as a 2025 model for the Asia market, the Panigale V45 is “more than 80% new.
This comes in the form of bodywork, chassis, engine, electronic, you name it, the boys at Borgo Panigale have tweaked it with the aim of making the Panigale V4 better, faster and easier to ride at the track. This was borne out by the words of Ducati test rider Allesandro Valia where he said, “the new Panigale V4S make every rider faster at the track, from the fast amateur to test riders like me to the MotoGP rqcers.”
Gone is the single-sided swingarm from the previous Panigale V4, replaced with a double-sided hollow cast unit. During the technical briefing, it was explained with single- and double-sided swingarms were tested and it was found the double-sided unit is 37% less stiff than before while being lighter by 2.7 kg.
Similarly, the frame is 40% less stiff with a 17% decrease in weight. Coupled with the Ducati in-house designed and engineered forged wheels giving a 2.17 kg weight savings along with a 22% and 23.5% decrease in moment of inertia, front and rear, respectively, the new Panigale V4S is touted as being more stable while giving the rider more feedback in the corner.
The wheels deserves special mention as they are now ready for track use. And by track use, Ducati means the Panigale V4S can be fitted with 125/70 and 200/65 Pirelli Diablo Superbike racing slicks to replace the OEM Diablo SuperCorsa SP-V4 tyres with no further modification or suspension adjustment necessary.
This comes about from the Ducati Electronic Suspension, or DES 3.0. With new hardware and software plus new suspension linkage, DES 3.0 offers more accurate telemetry damping customisation and better management of load transfer under acceleration but the icing on the cake is the suspension calibrating itself for comfort if it detects the Panigale V4S is being ridden on the road.
Also getting its world reveal is Brembo’s new Hypure front brake callipers. Lighter by 60 grammes than the currently fitted Brembo Stylema, the Hypure callipers offer improved internal ventilation and new road retention system as well as being offered in four colours – red, yellow, black and gold.
More electronic wizardry is seen in the dashboard, a 6.9-inch TFT-LCD unit with a resolution of 1280 x 480. The display comes with dedicated track and road modes, optimising information displayed to the rider.
The amount of information displayed in immense, including real time power and torque, g-force meter, lean angle – the new Panigale V4S is capable of leaning to 65-degrees – and tyre pressure monitoring. Notable is the lap timer, which uses GPS to track not only the current lap time, but also timing splits to show if the rider is holding constant, slower or faster than his current time.
New in the Panigale V4S electronics suite is Ducati Vehicle Observer, an algorithm developed by Ducati to define slip and wheelie targets with precision, then feeding the information to the traction and wheelie control. Additionally, 70 virtual sensors collect information on real-time operating conditions.
All the telemetry is recorded, stored and geo-located on a database with 500 track capacity. Cornering ABS gets a similar upgrade, now with a Race eCBS option. This controls the Panigale V4S to actually use race style braking in corners in order to close the line, while the rider concentrates on the riding.
As for the engine, the Desmosedici Straddle V-four now weighs one kg less with improvements in the cooling systems and reduced fuel consumption along with new camshafts. Power is rated at 216 hp at 13,500 rpm and if that is not enough, adding the underslung racing silencers pushes that to 224 hp while opting for the full race system with high-mount exhausts under the tail delivers 229 hp.
Changes have been made to the fuel tank with the 17-liter aluminium unit now cut with a racing profile, making it easier for the rider to hang off the Panigale V4S. The rider seat is also 35 mm longer and 50 mm wider, providing a more stable perch.
Improvements in aerodynamics, including dual-profile wings derived from Formula 1, make the Panigale V4S easier to flick around at racetrack speeds with increased agility in side winds. Also standard equipment on the Panigale V4S is a lithium-ion battery, cruise control, turn-by-turn navigation with connection the rider’s smartphone and USB charging port.
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