Ducati Diavel Carbon By the Numbers
ROUNDUP
DUCATI DIAVEL CARBON BY THE NUMBERS
No matter what you call it, the Diavel is a smokin'-good time
BLAKE CONNER
IF DUCATI IS FOCUSED ON ONE THING, it’s building high-performance motorcycles. Doesn’t matter if it’s a superbike, a sport-tourer, a naked, or, in the case of the Diavel, something that isn’t so easily pigeonholed, they are all very sporty and the numbers usually speak for themselves.
Ever since the world press introduction (“Ducati Diavel,” May), which took place in Marbella, Spain, we’ve been waiting to lay our gloves on a testbike and find out if the Diavel is, in fact, a Yamaha VMax killer—a most-obvious and often-compared adversary.
Thumbing back to “Max Muscle” (December, 2008), our most-recent road test of the current-generation VMax, we see that the 1679cc V-Four-powered ’Max recorded a 10.26-second, 135.80mph quarter-mile time. Frankly, we were disappointed with those numbers.
We’d had much higher expectations after the bike produced a whopping 174.3 horsepower at 9000 rpm and 113.0 footpounds of torque at 6600 rpm.
Fast-forward to this past June: Cut loose on our Diavel Carbon testbike, Road Test Editor Don Canet got our answer: a corrected 10.23-second, 130.70mph pass, despite making “only” 132.8 hp at 9320 rpm and 81.5 ft.-lb. of torque at 7225 rpm from its 1198cc Twin. Canet ran the Diavel in Sport mode (full power), response set to High, with DTC off.
“Pulling a monster holeshot on the Diavel was ridiculously easy,” said Canet. “With tons of torque low in the rev range, the bike leapt off the line with minimal revs (about 4000 rpm) and only a modest amount of clutch slip required before full engagement. The fat rear meat was completely hooked up while the bike’s long, low stature kept the wheelie in check on the launch, suiting in a low floater through much first gear.”
So, how does the Ducati knock off the VMax while giving away 41 hp and 31 ft.-lb. of torque? Weight, or, actually, lack thereof. The Diavel tipped the CW scales at 498 pounds dry, 178 less than the Star. This advantage allowed the Ducati to maintain an edge in acceleration all the way through the Canet’s 0-30 (1.1 sec.), 0-60 (2.6)
0-90 (4.9) times were all quicker the the VMax’s respective 1.3, 2.7 and with 0-100 an identical 5.9 seconds each. As a matter of fact, the Ducati’s 0-60-mph time is one of the quickest that C W has ever recorded.
Another performance category in which the Due spanked the VMax was top speed. The Yamaha is electronically limited to 138 mph, while the Diavel ripped all the way up to 150.
The Ducati excelled in the braking department, too. “That same low stance pays dividends when hard on the brakes,” said Canet, “as well as producing a great sense of confidence due to its superb stability and resistance to nose wheelies.”
Stops with the ABS system turned on measured 31 feet from 30 mph and 120 feet from 60, putting the Diavel in the company of the best-of-the-best European and Japanese repli-racers we recently tested for “Electronic Warfare” (August).
So, despite not clearly falling into ^ an existing category, the Ducati Diavel performs with such authority that it qualified for multiple classes in CPTs annual Ten Best vote-getting. And if the Diavel’s styling hasn’t yet grown on you, we can assure you that the view flashing by from the saddle is just fine.
