2025 Ducati Panigale V4S review | Bendy chassis and advanced electronics calm Ducati's new superbike

Ducati’s new £29,995 Panigale V4S looks after you in a way no other superbike has ever done. Lap after brain-frazzling lap, it encourages you to scare yourself on the brakes, yank the throttle earlier than you’d ever thought possible and lean over further. There’s never any sense it’ll bite, so you can just concentrate on nibbling away at your lap time.

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We’re on our sixth and final session, here at its world launch around the fast ‘n technical Vallelunga circuit, near Rome. The Panigale V4S is as fresh and accurate as it was when it rolled on to the track this morning and through every corner it hooks up with MotoGP Ducati-like poise and stability. On the old Panigale it would be a different story: it would shred its tyres in a few laps, then buck and weave in an attempt to put its 213 bhp to the tarmac, leaving its rider knackered.

To say the new Panigale V4S is easy to ride isn’t strictly true because of the huge forces it puts through your body under hard acceleration, braking and cornering, but it’s no longer a wild thing to hang on to.

Power has never been a shortcoming, since the V4 was launched in 2018. Its MotoGP-derived engine, complete with twin-pulse firing order and counter-rotating crank delivers bombastic speed and acceleration but using it all has been a different story.

The Panigale V4S was refined slightly in 2020, but it took a big step towards civility in 2022 where rider aids and engine maps got a major polish. Suddenly, unlike any Panigale before, especially the recalcitrant V-twin versions, the ’22 bike served to flatter. Pit garages at trackdays, especially those fancy multi-day Euro events, started to turn red as Panigale V4s became the weapon of choice.

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The ’25 version is friendlier still thanks to lots of little detail changes and some major ones. Its 2kg lighter, there’s more space to move around, thanks to a bigger seat and its reshaped tank is easier to grip on to when you brake and corner. New third-generation Ohlins semi-active suspension is suppler, more controlled and accurate to adjust, new forged ali wheels are lighter, its uprated quickshifter is sublime, the taller screen useful for bigger riders and there’s more ground clearance, thanks to new footpegs tucked in by 10mm.

Engine mods are simply to get the V4 through Euro 5+ regs, while maintaining its power (it’s actually up half a bhp). It’s slightly revvier and has less torque; not that you’d ever notice with a motor oozing so much performance.

But here at Vallelunga it’s clear the Ducati has improved in three major areas.

The first and biggest change comes from its new frame and double-sided swingarm, both of which are lighter and have significantly more lateral flex. There’s more feel and grip at full lean and the chassis is more in tune with the character of stickier, new-generation Pirellis. It comes on Diablo Super Corsa V4 SPs as standard and today we’re on Diablo Superbike slicks: SC1 front, SC0 rear.

Crucially, the new Ducati maintains its newfound composure long after the tyres are past their best. Take the ’22 model with its stiffer frame and single-sided swingarm: it won’t misbehave on new rubber, but once the grip level drops, which it soon does, it can be a handful when you push hard. The new Panigale is much kinder on its tyres to begin with and when grip fades it stays as stable and predictable as any conventional Japanese or European superbike.

Not only is this good news for trackday riders, but it should also assist Ducati superbike teams, too if the homologation-special Panigale V4R gets a similar chassis for ‘25 (they’ve yet to confirm).

Ducati have come to realise chassis flex is the missing part of the Panigale handling jigsaw. As such they’ve been testing frames and double and single-sided swingarms with different stiffnesses behind closed doors for the past couple of years. Flex has been the key to their MotoGP’s success and it benefits riders of all levels.

In this year’s ‘Race of Champions’ at World Ducati Week, MotoGP champ Francesco Bagnaia won, setting a 1:35.051 lap around Misano on a standard ’25 Panigale V4S with slicks (a second faster than at the same event two years ago on the ’22 bike). Recent Misano MotoGP winner, Marc Marquez’s set a quickest lap of 1:31.564 on his Ducat and last place Stefan Bradl did a 1:34.247 on his development Honda. It’s fair to say Ducati have found the magic formula for getting a bike around a track quickly, whether it’s a Panigale or a Desmosedici MotoGP rocket.

Electronics are the next big weapon in the new Ducati’s armoury. They were cutting edge on the ’22 V4 and now they’ve taken another huge leap forward. As before it has traction, slide, wheelie, launch and engine braking control, served by an Inertial Measurement Unit and powerful ECU. They’re even more accurate now, thanks to a new system (Ducati Vehicle Observer) that can predict 70 virtual ground forces acting on the machine. As a result, the rider aids control the V4’s power safely and predictably, whether you want to slide your way around a track, or ride wheels in line.

Here at Vallelunga, it’s just a case of deciding when you want to pull the trigger out of a corner, then hold the throttle against the stop and let the electronics take care of the rest. You never need to worry about what the bike is doing, leaving you to concentrate on where you’re going.

With the electronics doing their thing the Panigale feels like a computer game and a little dead-feeling, until it’s upright and frying your speed senses along the straights. Twiddling the settings to turn the power up and dial the rider aids down makes the V4 come alive. It becomes more involving, fun and feels much faster, but doesn’t actually improve my lap times. The electronics help a normal rider like me ride fast for longer, but they do take something away from the riding experience.

Completing the trio of lap time-busting tricks is the V4’s new braking system. New Brembo Hypure calipers make their debut on the Panigale and they’re every bit as savage as before, but have improved cooling qualities for consistency. The ABS system now has seven levels, all the way from ‘fully safe’ ABS for the road, ABS for the front wheel only and ABS that controls a rear slide into corners when you stamp on the rear brake.

There’s also a new ‘Race eCBS’ system that operates the rear brake for you when you pull the front brake lever for extra stability. Unlike any other linked systems, electronics trail-brakes the rear for you with the perfect amount of brake pressure and keeps it there after you’ve released the front brake, to help hook the Ducati into a turn. It works brilliantly, is what a MotoGP rider will do naturally and is one less thing to worry about during a fast lap.

It's impossible to fault the new Panigale V4S at Vallelunga. It operates at a much higher level than most of us could ever get close to and the way it can now churn out fast, consistent laps with relatively little effort will be an even bigger draw to the dedicated, well-healed trackday rider.

TECH SPOTLIGHT

Chassis overhaul:

• Ducati has gradually taken stiffness out of the Panigale over the years and now it’s a world away from the rigid, cast airbox chassis of the original V-twin. In a bid to give it more feel, grip, stability in every phase of a corner, the aluminium ‘front frame’ has a massive 40% reduction in lateral stiffness and is a handy 730g lighter. The Bologna boffins have also junked the bulky single sided swingarm in favour of a DHSS (no, not that one). The ‘Ducati Hollow Section Swingarm’ is double sided and has 37% less lateral stiffness and along with the new wheel assembly and shorter rear shock weighs 3.8kg less than before.

Light fantastic:

• Despite the extensive engine and chassis lightening, it’s and offset by the new Euro 5+ exhaust and extra electronics. As a result it’s only 2kg lighter than before, but you’ll get some of that weight saving back and a claimed 225bhp, with Ducati’s official titanium Akrapovic race system with underseat exhaust. Yours for £7776…

A new face:

• Panigale’s lines are flatter, like a 916’s or Ducati’s MotoGP racer. Lights are smaller and the fairing nose 4% slipperier with air scoop is hidden centrally. New colour-coded wings create same downforce and integrate into bodywork. Fairing’s leading edges are trimmed back to create less drag changing direction.

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Ducati have squeezed the V4 through Euro5+ without losing power (it makes 0.5bhp more), which is no mean feat. Inlet and exhaust cams are reprofiled and its 213bhp is made 500rpm further up the revs. Torque is 2lb-ft down, peaking 1750rpm higher than before. Variable length inlet trumpets are shorter at high revs and linger at low rpm. The alternator and oil pump are from the Panigale V4 R and gearbox drum from the Superleggera V4, reducing weight by 1kg. Rear cylinders deactivate in town above 75 degrees.

It might be expensive but build quality and attention to detail is exceptional. Like a factory MotoGP racer with lights and mirrors. Our online owners’ reviews are nothing but glowing - from the 2018 bike, through the 2020-2021 version. We don't have any for the 2022-on Panigale at time of publication.

When it comes to the level of performance, tech, equipment and outright specialness you get for your money, compared to rival European and Japanese superbikes, the Ducati Panigale V4S leaves them all in its wake. You can have as much fun on track on a cheaper machine, but for some having the best-of-the-best is money well spent.

The competition comes in the form of the bonkers Aprilia RSV4 Factory, the exceptionally rounded BMW S1000RR and the track-focused Yamaha R1M.

Ducati have thrown the kitchen sink at the Panigale V4S and there’s no track-related bell and whistle it doesn’t have. Standard equipment includes uprated electronic rider aids including multiple rider modes, traction/slide/wheelie/engine braking/launch control and an up/down quickshifter. It also sits on Ohlins semi-active suspension, lightweight forged aluminium wheels and Brembo Hypure brakes, tyre pressure and temperature monitors. A superb new 6.9in colour TFT display has an 8:3 aspect ratio, cleaner new graphics and a plethora of easy-to-read information in road and track layouts.