Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa review

The Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tyres sit below the top-spec Super Corsa range in the Italian firm’s line-up of sports tyres.

• Related: Your ultimate guide to motorcycle tyres

Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa review by Michael Neeves

My Triumph Speed Triple 1200RR long-termer comes on Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa SP tyres out of the crate. Aside from the Italian firm’s race rubber, which only works in specific temperature windows and requires tyre warmers, the SPs are the stickiest hoops in their range.

They’re superb for rapid road riding and even better on track, as I found out when I took my RR to Oulton earlier in the year – the front and rear never budged an inch. They’re decent in the wet for what’s essentially a cut slick and work fine in the cold, although below 10 degrees it’s tricky to keep heat in them, especially at the front with the slow-steering Triumph’s natural tendency to understeer. They wear well, too. I changed them after 2944 miles and the rear still looked good.

Impressive stuff, but the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsas I replaced them with are an even better all-around high-performance road tyre. They fit between the SP and Diablo Rosso IV in their range and are designed for fast road riding and track days. I can vouch for their grip on the track, having ridden a BMW S1000RR on them at Mugello at their launch. Aside from slightly slower steering characteristics and a firmer ride, you’d be hard pushed to tell them apart from a Super Corsa SP.

They never leave you wanting more on the road, either. 3000 of the 3334 miles I’ve covered on them was on a week-long trip to the Pyrenees. The Rosso IV Corsas endured day-long, straight-line motorway rides, torrential rain and scorched mountain roads in the south of France and northern Spain. They were always stable, had lots of grip in the wet for such a sporty tyre and let me enjoy scratching through some of the best tarmacs in Europe in the dry.

If you ride a sports bike, superbike or sporty naked and you like to let your hair down, these are perfect. Like the Super Corsa SPs they showed little signs of wear when I changed them for their direct rival: Dunlop’s SportSmart TT. Watch this space for the review.

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Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa: Top summertime rubber

Tested by Dan Sutherland for 3000 miles
Quality 5/5, Value 4/5

I’ve tested these Pirellis on my KTM 1290 Super Duke R Evo long-term test bike for around 2500 miles now, as well as brief stints on the road and track aboard middleweight sportsbikes like Yamaha’s R7 and exotic superbikes like Ducati’s Panigale V4 SP2.

I’ve used them on the KTM for commutes, weekend outings and even a trackday at Snetterton – experiencing torrential downpours, some of the hottest days on record and daily abuse on my 100-mile-a-day round trip to MCN Towers.
I’ve been fortunate enough to test most of the mainstream rubber in this sporty road segment of the market and these are up there with the best of them – offering exceptional levels of confidence-inspiring stability in the dry and an impressive level of longevity.

Much of my ride to the office is in long, boring straight lines across Lincolnshire Fenland and they are only just beginning to lose their rounded profile, with plenty of meat left on the front and rear. On track they were also impressive, with the fat 200-section rear helping to keep the 1301cc KTM calm and composed under acceleration, with plenty of feel mid-corner, too.

Despite being designed for more spirited antics, there’s also a decent level of grip in the wet, too. Given the lack of tread lines, I wouldn’t want to push them too hard though, with the feel dropping away noticeably at the front end.
Being a new design, they’re also quite pricey, but you’re paying for a quality product that will improve your warm weather riding experience.

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