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Comparison test Ducati 996 against MV Agusta F4 S

Espresso

Fast and exciting, hot and strong: this is how you know Italian coffee? and Italian motorcycles. A little taste please?

Yes Yes Yes ?? MOTORRAD is doing it again. Brings another story with the Divine: the MV Agusta F4, this time the S. Because it’s beautiful, because it’s fun, because we just can’t get enough of the splendor and glory of this Italian creation. And because we have not yet set them against the other godlike? the Ducati 996.
What would the motorcycle world be without such highlights? You would be poorer. Poor in colors, shapes, sensuality and discussion material. Last but not least, we have two real winners here: With the 916 and 996, Ducati has been proving the competitiveness of a V2 against the Japanese four-cylinder superiority on the racetrack for years. And with the F4 S, MV Agusta shows that you can also build four-cylinder cylinders in Italy that don’t have to hide from the best in the world. So what could be more natural than to compare the two top products from the country where espresso glows? Nothing like pure pleasure.
Ducati 996: The constantly improved V-twin cylinder, thanks to the optimized intake and exhaust system, gives a huge boom to the chain, still sounds full and lustful, sucks fresh gas from 50 millimeter throttle valves. Under the tank, the bottom of which acts as a cover for the airbox, you can admire the inlet valves in the fully machined intake ducts.
But although the MOTORRAD test machine with a whopping 120 hp at only 8300 rpm is one of the most powerful 996s ever measured, it remains a good deal behind the expected top speed at 256 km / h. Cause: the overall gear ratio chosen for too long? so long that the Ducati can only achieve top speed in fifth gear; in the sixth it doesn’t want to and doesn’t want to get any faster. In this overdrive stage, part of the enormous torque evaporates, as the better values ​​of the MV show. The long translation is particularly annoying in the city. Who wants to start off with the clutch slipping forever or exceed the city limit in first gear at a tame 4000 rpm?
The MV Agusta demonstrates the value of an optimal translation. It makes ideal use of its 126 hp and 75 Nm. With a top speed of 273 km / h, the Ducati pulls them far away, even trumps the much more torque-intensive Ducati in pulling through. The MV driver enjoys the in-house sound, because the four-cylinder in-line sounds as pithy and hoarse as a four-cylinder can only sound. Especially when he crouches behind the slim panel. The airbox is located at the same height in front of the tank, and its red painted top acts as a speaker membrane for the various intake noises of the radial four-valve valve. A pleasure without regrets, because the four-jet exhaust system escapes rather gentle tones.
The MV has two weaknesses on the drive side compared to the 996: On the one hand, the gearbox cannot be shifted as precisely and cleanly as the exemplary Ducati gearbox. On the other hand, the throttle valves, which are harder to operate, together with a probably not yet optimally coordinated engine map, ensure a rather tough transition from sliding to load operation. Especially when accelerating in a great lean angle, the resulting load change jolt warns you to handle the throttle carefully.
This is where the Ducati shows its maturity: no engine in the world can be accelerated as gently as the 996-Desmo. The V2 converts every degree of angle on the throttle into propulsion, linearly. As if you were operating a digital power meter and no complex gas mimicry with pulls, cams, rods, powerful throttle valves and potentiometers. Even the greatest inclines can be mastered with a gentle pull on the rear wheel, especially in poor grip conditions, the great characteristics ensure a lot of safety.
The revised brake system of the Ducati also acts very safely, decelerating thanks to a modified brake pump and other lining material, finally befitting, easy to dose, without noticeable fading. The fact that the MV is still ahead in the brakes classification is due to the lower manual strength required by the six-piston Nissin system. With two fingers you can do headstands even from over 200 km / h with warm tires. The rear brake, on the other hand, has little effect at first, only to block quickly. An effect that is probably due to the low rear wheel load and the high braking torque of the four-cylinder engine.
The chassis of the two are the highlights of motorcycle construction. Created by the same designer, namely Massimo Tamburini, they shine with such impressive properties that they can only be recommended to all other chassis builders as examples. Tamburini always manages to instill an almost mystical track security on the front wheel. Building on this rich driving experience, the stable single-sided swing arms together with the hardly noticeable load change reactions of the drive trains ensure absolute confidence.
The steering forces, however, are different. The MV is a big step further here and is a class more manageable, especially at high speeds. Lean angles can be changed in a flash. Bigger pilots, however, have the broad hump in the way when doing gymnastics? but this is another story. Just like the thing with your fingers, which you get caught between the fairing and the handlebars when turning.
The chassis data does not reveal why the MV is so much more nimble than the Duc. Steering head angle, wheelbase and weight are the same, the caster on the Ducati is even less. The front wheels weigh a similar amount, the 65 mm front tire of the MV should also only help marginally. So it is probably the lower center of gravity due to the low-lying tank, the supposedly higher frame stiffness and above all the front-heavy weight distribution that bring advantages to the MV. It enchanting its driver with driving maneuvers that were previously only possible on light two-stroke machines. Turning on the brake, for example: you pull the lever so that it almost pushes you between the instruments, and still angle the machine effortlessly. When accelerating out? the phase when many bikes drift outwards or even hit the handlebars ?? the F4 S is perfectly neutral and allows any line correction if necessary.
The Ducati also drives extremely neutrally, but acts more sedate in every respect. Well ?? thanks to its lighter wheels, it rushes through alternating curves more easily than before, but it is far from the agility of the MV. What it shares with the F4 S is the perfect response of the suspension elements and the happy choice of the spring rate forehead and rear. In addition, its suspension set-up has been chosen to be quite tight, while the MV is more on the comfortable side in the damper set-up and uses up its reserves on the racetrack with the tires.
F.azit: The MV Agusta wins this group test by a wafer-thin margin. It is more manageable, stronger and faster than the routine, facelifted Ducati. If this were not translated too long, it could perhaps even thwart the victory of the MV, because the 996 of the year 2000 is the best there has ever been: exciting, fast and hot. Like the MV Agusta, which is just a tad more exciting, faster and hotter.

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