Taka put close to 6000km on a set of Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV sports street tyres and came away from the test very impressed. Check out his review of these versatile hoops...
Our resident tyre tester Taka has finished a long range test on the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV, putting close to 6000km on them on his street going MT-10, coming away impressed with the all-weather sports/sports touring street tyre from Italy… Check out his review.
Taka put close to 6000km on a set of Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV for us on his Yamaha MT-10 during summer.
As always I was super excited to get another set of Pirelli tyres to review. I test quite a lot of different tyres on both my road and track bike, it’s a special interest for me, so I always get a kick out of a fresh set of tyres arriving at my place and I had been anticipating the arrival of these new Rosso IV (pronounced Rosso Quattro) tyres from Link International, the Pirelli importer and distributor.
Taka always fits and balances his tyres himself at home and says the DRIV went on easily and balanced up perfectly.
The first thing I noticed about the tyres was the name embossing on the edge of the tread, which I think looks really cool. I also like the style of the new grooves. The sizes for my MT-10 are 120/70 – 17 and 190/55 – 17. I soon had my wheels out and the tyres fitted.
Within a very short distance I said to myself, “These have that special Pirelli feel”…
I always fit my own tyres the old fashioned way with tyre levers, I am just used to it after many of my younger years spent racing in Japan and changing tyres all weekend long. The DRIV’s went on easily and the sidewalls were soft, that is always the good first notification for me on what the type of tyres are and what I might expect…
Taka started out with standard pressures and a 15ºC day for his first outing on the Diablo Rosso IV.
I set the front and rear tyres to OEM (Yamaha) recommended pressures (cold) for the MT-10 and geared up ready for my first ride on the tyres. It was 15ºC and sunny and I planned on a short ride to scrub them in and get a feel for them. Interestingly, within a very short distance I said to myself, “These have that special Pirelli feel”. I think if I was blindfolded when my tyres were fitted and sent off on a ride to identify them, I would be very confident in saying they were Pirelli’s. Maybe we can run a competition Jeff? The prize can be the tyres!
Scrubbing in was very easy. I just rode cautiously and with no sudden leaning or braking, just progressive lean angle as the tyre temperature increased. Scrub in generally takes around 100km on the road depending on conditions and corners available, unlike the track where a lap in enough. The past days of very slippery new tyres is gone, all tyres are much safer to scrub in these days.
After initial scrub in and a short ride to get a feel for the DRIV, Taka hit the local hills for some fun. He was impressed.
Over the next few thousand kilometres of riding I was always impressed with the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV, they are a great street sports tyre with good wear characteristics, no drop off in performance and still have good grip and feel. The handling is natural and neutral when leaning into a corner lightly, and not aggressive like a more sporty tyre such as the Rosso Corsa II.
Check out Taka’s other tyre reviews here…
The DRIV is still sticky, but gives a more natural progression in cornering compared to a more racy type of tyre. Bump absorption and cushioning is also more mild than, say, a Rossi Corsa II or more sports/race tyre of tyre, giving a more comfortable ride on our bad roads.
Taka threw just about every condition at the DRIV tyres, from smooth hills to city riding, bumpy country roads, wet and dry weather and even some dirt!
On the twisties in the mountains my MT-10 felt lighter and easy going through the corners, I really enjoyed the handling characteristics of the DRIV, it made riding a pleasure. When pushing closer to the limit, I started to feel some bumps and I dropped the pressures generally 3psi at both ends for hard riding, which helped me get some more feel from tyre, I like to feel the bigger footprint.
“These Pirelli’s deliver great grip but also provide good information/feedback and provided me with confidence in every condition on the road”…
At the suitable tyre pressure, these Pirelli’s deliver great grip but also provide good information/feedback and provided me with confidence in every condition on the road you are likely to encounter, both front and rear, neither end let me down or gave any nasty slides or surprises. Wet weather performance if good, with plenty of grip and feedback at both ends.
Overall, I would call the Diablo Rosso IV an advanced sports touring tyre. Tyre life for me was around 6000km, but that will vary from rider to rider. There was very little performance drop off and the balance between performance and touring is just right for a bike like my MT-10 and the type of riding I do. If you haven’t tried Pirelli tyres, I suggest you give these a go, and if you are already a Pirelli fan, you will definitely be impressed with these.
TECH TALK
Pirelli’s wide range of Diablo tyres got bigger and better with the arrival last year of the Rosso IV. Pirelli said at the time the all-weather tyre caters for supersport, hypersport and naked models, offering fantastic performance to road riders of all levels, which we found out is true.
The Diablo Rosso™ IV tread pattern is developed around the Flash™ icon which is synonymous with all Pirelli tyres.
The tread pattern design of the Diablo Rosso™ IV features slicker mid-lean areas. This is an evolution of the Diablo Rosso™ III, giving support at lean angles where water drainage is useless (over 35°). This means a large slick area on the shoulders, which results in excellent grip and line holding while cornering at extreme lean angles.
Dry grip and consistency has dramatically increased across the board from the older Diablo Rosso III tyres.
The Diablo Rosso™ IV tread pattern is developed around the Flash™ icon which is synonymous with all Pirelli sport tyres. Flash™ features two prominent centre grooves providing directional stability and ensuring wear stability. They also provide water drainage from the centre out for the contact patch when upright. Flash™ tails of varying lengths are distributed around the centre design, outlining the mid-lean grooves. These tails are an important element for the tyre’s behaviour, providing the right tyre flexibility, efficient water evacuation and wear uniformity.
“The Rosso™ IV boasts a Silica-enriched, multi-compound in both the front and rear tyres.”
The Rosso™ IV boasts a Silica-enriched, multi-compound in both the front and rear tyres, combined with WSBK-derived structures and contours. Pirelli has spared no expense in development, this is demonstrated in the confidence that the Rosso™ IV inspires. It offers superb grip under braking, thrust boost in extreme lean angles and brilliant traction when powering out of corners.
The hard layer on the front tyre delivers outstanding grip in cold and wet conditions. The softer side layer (accessed when in lean angles over 35°) offers excellent grip and delivers a brilliant contact feeling. The new Diablo Rosso™ IV’ has increased the Rayon cord stiffness, obtained through a larger section of more twisted strands, adapted along the contour, which differentiates stiffness depending on the lean angle. Combined this gives the rider the option to adjust the trajectory while cornering or to delay braking ahead of entering into lean.
“The chord stiffness has been raised by more than 30% over the Diablo Rosso™ III”
The dual-compound rear up to 195/50 r17 features a Rayon 2-wire strand structure. The chord stiffness has been raised by more than 30 per cent over the Diablo Rosso™ III, reducing the end-count freeing up the space available for the compound to perform. The full silica dual compound rear offers a quick warm-up and a significant grip level irrespective of lean angle, even in wet conditions. In relation to the dimension of the tyre, and therefore of the contact patch, a dual compound with more continuity ensures the best stress distribution and wear uniformity.
This endurance-racing compound features a 5-zone layout, which trades wet grip on high lean angles for thrust boost to cope with the extreme cornering speed and the astonishing engine outputs of modern performance motorcycles. It features a 3-wire strand Lyocell structure which translates to a deformation ratio considerably lower than usual street tyres. The soft full silica mid-rubber strip ensures performance, whilst delivering a safe sporty ride across all weather conditions.
The Rosso IV is available in Australia now, check out all the sizing options in the chart below!
The Pirelli Diablo Rosso™ IV is available now, click here to find out more! Check out the sizing chart below to find a suitable size for your bike.
Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Sizing Chart
Front
- 110/70R17 M/C 54H TL DIABLO ROSSO IV FRONT 61-397-84 $199.95
- 110/70ZR17 M/C 54W TL DIABLO ROSSO IV FRONT 61-397-85 $219.95
- 120/60R17 M/C (55W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV FRONT 61-397-88 $219.95
- *120/70ZR17 M/C (58W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV FRONT 61-397-86 $229.95
Rear
- 140/70R17 M/C 66H TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-89 $209.95
- 150/60R17 M/C 66H TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-90 $239.95
- 150/60ZR17 M/C 66W TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-91 $279.95
- 160/60ZR17 M/C (69W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-92 $289.95
- *180/55ZR17 M/C (73W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-93 $329.95
- 190/50ZR17 M/C (73W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-97 $339.95
- *190/55ZR17 M/C (75W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-96 $349.95
- 200/55ZR17 M/C (78W) TL DIABLO ROSSO IV REAR 61-397-98 $349.95
Tyre Review: Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV
Versatile!
June 13, 2022
Pirelli thinks these tyres are on the same segment than Michelin Power 5, but how do they compare with the Road 5 for 100% twisty roads use? (Reefton Spur, Eildon-Jamieson, Skyline Rd…)
I personally think the Road 5 and Angel GT II are quite different. The Angel weights a ton compared to the Road 5 (1kg more for the rear!). The profile is much steeper on the Road 5, sipes are a lot shorter and carcass is very soft.
PS: Nice pics from Foggs lookout.
June 23, 2022
Hi Steve, Taka has just worn out a set of the Michelin’s so I’ve asked him to comment. Cheers. Jeff.
July 14, 2022
Hi Steve
Everything you are saying is correct.
I honestly only wear Power5 and Angel GT for rear.
My impression is Rosso IV had a rigidity?
like hardness and long life than Power 5.
And grips are similar for me but I don’t like Power 5 are soft, so it feels like gliding slowly.
Never feels like that for Rosso IV.
But each person has different tastes so these are my options.
I don’t know about Road 5, but I wore Angel GT only for rear, It was hard tyre even try less air still feel bumping and bouncing when I open the throttle at the exit of the corners.
And feel heavy leaning but for some people like tyrelife but I did 7000km.
Anyway I enjoy tyres improvement, and you too. We can share opinions and see you around.
Taka
September 18, 2022
Hi, Fred here from Tassie. I have a Ninja 1000 sx, I use the bike all year,. but spring is really wet down here, so, are they ok on the wet? Looking forward to try them!
September 25, 2022
so how would you compare the Metzeler Sportec M9 RR to the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV for road use
October 11, 2022
Hi Fred – yeah they are great – lots of silica – plenty of wet weather grip, good feel too. Cheers.
December 15, 2022
Hi Mark,
As I feel M9RR is more sports tyre than RCIV.
In my experience when hard riding in winding roads grips were above than RCIV.
Good stability but feels bit hard & bumpy tyres.
RCIV was good light handling and more comfortable than M9RR.
The tyres good for low temperature, warms up quickly when I ride winding road tyre feels soft & squishy grips.
Both tyres is awesome, just different characters.
You should try both mate.
Taka Nagata