News 14 Aug 2015

Review: 2015 Aprilia RSV4 RR

CycleOnline.com.au test rides the 2015 Aprilia RSV4 RR.

It would be amiss to start talking about the 2015 Aprilia RSV4 RR without recognising how far the RSV4 superbike family has come since being released in 2009. In that year Aprilia released two closely-related machines: the base model RSV4R and the up-spec RSV4 Factory.

The Factory was the machine used for world Superbike homologation and the racer, piloted by Max Biaggi, was on the podium in WSBK many times that year. The bike won a race in its debut season and the championship the following year in 2010 and then again in 2012.

The success of the machine in its debut year was a long way improved of the previous RSV1000R and it deservedly gave the RSV4 a reputation as a production superbike as close to a race bike as you could get off the showroom floor. With a highly-adjustable chassis, stonking V4 power and class-leading electronics wrapped in a GP-sized package, it was seemingly all a rider could ask for from a turn-key machine.

For 2015 there is more of everything. More power, better handling, better engine characteristics and a styling update that improves aerodynamics primarily. There’s new naming, too, with the RSV model family now consisting of the RSV4 RR and the RSV4 RF.

The RR takes the place as the base model in the range while the RF builds on the RR’s handling with lighter wheels, better suspension and limited edition graphic. This machine’s model run of 500 units is all gone, so if you have one, lucky you! Otherwise, the RSV4 RR Race Pack is the same machine without the ‘Superpole’ paint job.

This year’s update to the RSV4 is the biggest one in the model’s short, but illustrious, existence. The styling, electronics and chassis have had significant improvements, but it’s in the engine where the biggest change has occurred.

The most common targets of engine improvement in motorcycles of late have been a greater spread of torque starting lower in the rev range, friction reduction of the internals and improved combustion efficiency. And the RSV4RR is no different with all the key updates internally pointing to improvements in these areas.

A new machining process of the cylinder head sees titanium valves sitting in larger seats, with new springs and lighter caps. All this is worked off a new profile camshaft that is also lighter. The bottom-end has lighter pistons and conrods and heavier gudgeon pins that are smaller in diameter.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

Other weight savings in the engine come from a lighter engine block, primary drive and gearbox. The gearbox has a new set of ratios optimised for the 2.5kg lighter engine that is 12kW more powerful and now out to the magic 200hp (148kW) mark.

Getting the air/fuel mixture to the cylinder head as efficiently as possible has been one of the more involved updates. Not only for better performance, but changes in WSBK regulations see a need for the production airbox to be run on the racers.

The redesigned airbox has less load and pressure loss while the newly adopted (for the base model RR) longer-travel, variable length intake ducts are fed by new upper/secondary injectors. The longer funnels improve low to midrange performance while a new ECU controls the fuelling more precisely and is complemented by a comprehensive and adjustable electronics package.

Dubbed with the acronym APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control), the host of electronic controls on the RSV4RR include traction control, quick shifter, wheelie control, launch control, race ABS and engine maps.

In addition, the system works with the V4-MP multimedia tool that pairs your smartphone with the bike. The bike data logs and, by using the phones GPS, it can recognise where the bike is on a circuit and modify the anti-wheelie and traction control settings to suit.

It’ll also analyse your lap times and indicates when to brake better or open the throttle earlier to improve your lap times! There’s an additional telemetry dashboard that shows you stuff like instant power and torque, rear wheel slip, acceleration forces and lean angles. It’s like having your own crew chief to talk you through your last session.

You’ll need someone handy on the spanners if you want to start adjusting the chassis though. The engine position, headstock angle, swingarm pivot and ride height are all adjustable. And with a more powerful, lighter engine, its position in the frame is lower for better weight distribution. But you can move it up if you want to!

The frame is untouched though the swingarm has been lengthened by 14mm to give better traction. The suspension at both ends is by Sachs and too the non-adjustable steering damper. The addition of the Bosch 9MP ABS system is a great addition to the unchanged braking system.

The engine modes of Track, Sport and Race make my unfortunately-short test time at Eastern Creek as easy as it could be. Shod with super sticky DOT-approved Pirellis the option for Track mode was a no brainer.

There’s simplicity in dialling in and out all the electronic adjustment and with no ‘base’ setting I leave it up to the settings a majority of riders were taking to the track to. But with the ABS setting for the track to get a feel of how the system fares.

Straight out of the tyre warmers and on to a perfect Sydney Motorsport Park, the low rpm throttle control was friendlier than I remember this engine to be. And that’s despite the extra power. Power is more than most mere mortals will ever use and the responsiveness of the engine in the bottom half of the rev range is its strength.

From low rpm through to the midrange the RSV responded strongly, but not abruptly, with more instant response than and inline four and none of the snappishness you can get out of a big twin.

After making short work of the front straight with a heart rattling turn of speed, it feels planted and precise into the fast turn one. The bike’s size makes it feel like a supersport-sized race bike, and the refinement in the chassis is no more evident then in how it steers so confidently and predictably into corners.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

Running hard into turn two I can do nothing to challenge the class-leading Bosch ABS equipped M430 Brembo brakes. They aren’t the top-spec Monobloc M50s, but a strong and predictable braking package.

Faster riders and racers will be revel in the adjustability of the system that has three settings of intervention and can also be turned off. It’s an awesome handling package out of the box and with the level of adjustability on offer racers and road riders alike aren’t going to be disappointed.

The least involved of the updates on the RR is the styling. Still very much the same as the original RSV4, the big changes are to the top half of the fairing that is more protective and aerodynamic. The mirror design is more aerodynamic, too, while the headlight design is new and central light LED, as are the indicators.

Hitting SMP’s front straight there was no crawling under the screen as the reshaped nosepiece is noticeably bigger and more sheltering than before. As compact as the RSV4 RR is – easily the smallest of all the superbikes – it is still a comfortable machine for big riders.

Though on the road it’s always a different prospect. There’s the typical adjustability in the span adjustment of the levers and position of the toe levers, but anything else like ‘bar or footpeg position will require accessories.

For a base model machine the RSV4 RR holds back on none of the good stuff that can make an up-spec machine so desirable over a base model. There is a range of accessories available for the RSV including carbon bling, exhausts and racing ’bars and rearsets. Not to mention the Öhlins suspension and lightweight wheels of the Race Pack.

With trick stuff like the electronics, chassis adjustability and magnesium engine casings, the extra $6000 buys you on a RSV4RR Race Pack is Öhlins fork, shock and steering damper and forged aluminium wheels. That’s a lot cheaper than upgrading your RR out of the accessory catalogue.

The changes to the RSV4RR, while most of them not obvious from the outside, have produced a better power characteristic, better handling, more powerful superbike that is a big step forward for the machine that set about redefining the superbike class only six years ago. Surely it can’t get better than this!

Specifications

Engine type: Liquid-cooled, DOHC, four valve per-cylinder 65° V4
Capacity: 999.6cc
Bore x stroke: 78 x 52.3mm
Compression ratio: 13.6:1
Claimed power: 148kW @ 13,000rpm
Claimed torque: 115Nm @ 10,500rpm
Dry weight: 180kg
Seat height: 847mm
Wheelbase: 1420mm
Fuel tank capacity: 18.5L
Colours: Bucine Grey and Black Ascari
Price: $25,000 ride away
Detailed specs: www.aprilia.com.au

Recent