Created to satisfy the most demanding motorcyclists who seek a tyre capable of high performance, the new Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa IV tyres represent a fiercer version of its predecessors and CycleOnline Tested the hypersport tyre at the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia.

Detailed has a more extensive technical rundown, but in short, the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa is built for riders who want a tyre to match the sports performance of their machine, capable of taking on winding roads, mountain passes and the race-track.

As for the venue, Mandalika is a world-class circuit that features on both the MotoGP and Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) calendars. Its layout boasts a unique combination of high and low-speed corners – great for feeling how the tyre responds under a variety of different loads.

We rode at the circuit on the Monday following the Superbike World Championship races in Indonesia, with the track resurfaced shortly before the round. As a result, the bitumen was still quite ‘green’, however, the asphalt was incredibly smooth and the scorching climate meant track temperatures reached 70 degrees!

My first outing was on a Ducati 1199 Panigale, a sportsbike used on the street and track that is synonymous with high performance. One thing that immediately impressed with the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa was its stability in the high-speed corners, and it offered the confidence needed to really have fun and deliver the input required to get the bike to turn in quickly on the faster parts of the circuit.

Image: Supplied.

As the session progressed I continually broke deeper and carried more entry speed into the tighter turns, learning the layout and trusting the tyre further with each lap. While the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa IV doesn’t offer as much grip as the heavily track-oriented Pirelli Supercorsa, it is an impressive step forward from the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa III, providing more than enough traction with added durability – perfect for street purposes and for a new or experienced rider to push on the circuit.

I was surprised by how much feel I was provided from the front tyre. Progressively, I trailed the front brake more as the laps passed, and I was able to find a point where the tyre would give feedback and squirm slightly as I carried more entry speed and trailed the front brake further into the turn.

While the front tyre slipped ever so slightly, it was confidence-inspiring to know where it was at as opposed to having complete grip one moment then sliding down the road the next, with no warning.

My next outing was on a more street-oriented platform – a Kawasaki Z900. It was interesting to test the tyres on this machine, which was a lot flatter in geometry compared to the Ducati, which was soft in the front and very much on the nose.

Despite the front-end set-up being harder on the Z900, I was still provided plenty of feel from the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa while trailing into the slower turns, and with the geometry and nature of the bike requiring more input to ‘flick’ into the fast corners, the stability was still there at high-speeds.

On the Z900 – using no electronics –  I was able to get a true appreciation for how good the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa rear tyre is. I continued asking more and more under acceleration, and I was doing this progressively to see what kind of feedback the tyre would provide.

As with the front, I was impressed by the degree of feeling the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa gives, as it was never once that snap of all-or-nothing traction when it moved, even when I drifted onto the dirtier parts of the track it was progressive and provided gradual feedback.

Image: Supplied.

Keeping that in mind, the racing-derived structure with zero-degree steel belt used in the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa IV still worked well with the Ducati’s electronic control systems, always producing gradual movement if it were to break traction.

Looking at hard upright braking performance and on both bikes the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa front tyre felt planted and stable, with the rear moving around on entry on the Ducati which I put down to the geometry and the way its owner had the bike set-up. From a street context, it’s inspiring to know that if you were to require sudden hard braking for any given reason, the tyre is highly-capable of supporting such a load.

One thing that I was particularly curious about was how the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa would handle the extreme heat in Indonesia. Towards the end of the session, I was expecting the tyre to drop off a lot greater than it did, which is a positive because the grip reduction was only minimal and gradual with heat causing the pressures to slightly rise.

Warming up the tyres wasn’t an issue, one due to the heat, but also greatly thanks to the central full silica compounds of the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa. The first session I was cautious and took a couple of laps, but the second session by the time I had been through the fast mid part of the circuit they felt great.

While at Mandalika, I was also given the chance to test the Diablo Rosso IV, a H-Rated product range specifically designed to enhance 125cc-400cc motorcycle performance. Standouts from this tyre were its edge grip – both front and rear –  despite being more street-oriented in its design, and improved handling through the faster corners.

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face going through the fast series of corners (130km/h-plus), turns seven and eight and nine, each lap at full throttle and having complete confidence in the tyres underneath me.

Mandalika proved to be a perfect testing ground for the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa and the tyre did not disappoint. From high-speed stability, grip levels, feel under load and progressive feedback, its two-compound structure covers all of the essential basis, making it a great option for riders chasing a product that inspires confidence to push their bike on the street, and on the track.

Pirelli motorcycle tyres are distributed into Australia by Link International. For more information on the complete product range, visit www.linkint.com.au.