Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa road and track review

Slotting into the Pirelli range in 2022 is a new hoop in the Diablo Rosso range, designed for sports road riding and occasional trackday use. In short, the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa bridges the gap between the Diablo Rosso range and the top-spec Super Corsa hoops.

It’d be really easy to say here that there is more grip, feel, and longevity than before, and while that’s what Pirelli is claiming, there is also more to these tyres than simply outdoing the previous generation products.

The new hoops are a kind of bridge tyre, linking the super-sticky Super Corsas and their more road-biased Diablo Rosso IVs. All the wet weather grip and longevity of the Rosso IIIs, with all the on-track ability of the Super Corsas…

It sounds like a big ask, doesn’t it?

Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa fitment and prices

The Rosso Corsas are available in 110 and 120 section fronts, with rear tyres ranging from 150 to 200 section. Fronts and rears are only available for 17” wheels. See below for a full list of sizes to suit your bike – dates indicate expected arrival in dealers.

Prices for the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa tyres start at around £160 for a set. For more information, head to: www.pirelli.com

What is new with the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa

This tyre is really aimed at riders who want ultimate on-road performance, in all weather, with the ability to provide track day levels of grip should the owner wish. To help with this, the tread pattern of the tyre is all-new, with the distinctive lightning bolt design shrinking to leave more rubber on the road. The shoulders of the tyre are also slicker to help provide more grip at high lean angles.

Pirelli has played with the compounds here too, with the front using dual compounds along with the rear. On the front, both of these zones are full silica, although the central band is slightly harder than the stickier outer sections.

The rear features a full silica central band, although the shoulder here is 100 percent carbon black. This is to help the tyre deal with the power and torque of a 200bhp bike at full lean.

The carcass of the Rosso Corsa also uses a more aggressive profile, with a slightly sharper shape to help with turn-in, while the tyre features stiff chord technology. The latter means stiffer internal chords, that are less dense, and leave more room for the rubber. Both factors are claimed to improve the precision and feel of the tyre when on the road and track.

Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa on track handling

With the temperature hovering just below 8°, you could say this was typical UK track day weather – just without the rain. It was enough though to have people scraping the ice off their cars earlier in the morning, and meant that the stunning Mugello circuit was not at its optimum operating temperature. Far from it in fact.

We weren’t there to check weather apps though, and after a short briefing, we were sent out on the chilly Tarmac to wobble around and get a feel for the place.

Having just ridden the new 2022 Panigale before Christmas, I thought I’d select that as my steed for the day. The bike was in Race Mode B, meaning full power, low to mid-level traction and wheelie control, rear ABS disabled, and a slightly softened throttle map. In short, just how I like it.

Now, I know the Panigale is good, fantastic even, but to be pulling out of the pits and onto the track in temperatures as low as this, you’d normally expect to see at least a flicker from the ABS and traction control lights on the TFT. Surprisingly though, I didn’t. Not even a peep. In the early laps on the cold track, I got the slightest hint that the bike was talking to me through the tyres, a slight handlebar wobble or tail-end murmur here or there. Other than that, it felt like I could have ridden out of the garage on hoops heated by tyre warmers – which we hadn’t, by the way.

As the sessions progress the tyres get better and better. More competent riders than me are dragging elbows and for the most part, we are getting everything we needed from this supposed road hoop. I’m sure there are some that would bemoan some of these road tyres on-track ability, but for me, and the level I ride at, it had everything I needed and more.

After six sessions around the torturously beautiful Mugello circuit, we had put a serious amount of punishment through the new Rosso Corsas. They would have been fine to ride home on had we been on a UK trackday, but the combination of 200bhp bikes and that track had started to take a toll on the rubber. It was still ridable, it’s just the highspeed finesse and high lean stability were starting to fade.

Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa on-road handling

For the road ride of the new tyres, we had a short but fast ride along the stunning roads around the Mugello circuit in Italy. It was as quick as you’d like, with fast sweepers, endless switchbacks, and lots of Tarmac changes to really put the tyre to work.

I immediately felt how nimble the bike felt on the road. The steering was super light, and the relentless changes of direction needed almost zero effort from me, with the bike flicking from left to right with laser-guided accuracy. The new Pirellis also seem to heat up quickly, and it was pretty chilly up in the Italian mountains. I wouldn’t ever ride brain-out silly from the word go on any tyre, although you get the idea that these hoops have got enough grip in reserve to allow it.

With dry weather on the launch, we didn’t get to sample the wet-weather prowess of the rubber, although, given the Rosso III’s popularity for just that, we’d be surprised if these weren’t anything good.

Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa verdict

There is a trait within humans to opt for the biggest, fastest, most powerful thing in everything we do. Be it sports bikes, electric cake mixers, hairdryers, or motorcycle tyres. We really need to kick this biggest is best attitude. And the new Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa hoops are a perfect example.

Many casual trackdays riders will automatically opt for the stickiest rubber they can get their grubby little mitts on, blind to the fact that: A. they might never be able to make the most of it, and B. for 90% of the riding they do it’ll be too cold for the tyre to work efficiently.

That’s where I see the Rosso Corsa stepping in and giving a cheeky wink. It’s better on the road and in all weather than any track-day specific tyre you could shake tyre warmer at. They also have grip and feel that is generally far greater than the ability than most track day riders. Fat Fast group excluded…

For more info on the new hoops, do a rolling burnout to this website: www.pirelli.com