Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tyres and Ohlins Review

wattsy_rules · 01-31-2012, 05:45 AM

I've just spent the last two days at Philip Island riding and wanted to offer some feedback on Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tyres and confirm what most of you know about Ohlins suspension.

I had never riden with Diablo's before so wasn't sure what to expect and had them fitted at the suggestion of my local bike shop. I had concerns that they might not be up to the punishment I intended to give them but was assured they'd handle anything I could throw at them. I scrubbed them on the local highway and they seemed fine for the road.

I took it very easy for the first session as I wanted to get the feel of them before I started pushing. They worked really well and felt stable and planted while cornering. At the same time I was running brand new Ohlins TTX36 shock and FGRT forks. I hadn't set sags etc as I wanted the suspension mechanic to do this on the day. While I didn't push tyres or suspension, they felt pretty good.

After the first session I had the suspension mechanic set the sags etc and it became pretty obvious that I might need stiffer springs in the forks. I started pushing in the second session and the tyres felt great. At no stage did they feel like letting go and my times started coming down. At the end of three sessions we changed the forks springs to 1.05's as their preload had been previously set to 10mm and they were still too soft.

I pushed pretty hard for the rest of yesterday and for most of today and the tyres felt awesome, to my surprise. I'm not a real fast rider but was regularly posting 1:55's and spent the two days smiling at how fast the S1RR is but also at how much confidence the tyres were inspring. I could change lines as needed and regularly took wider lines to go around slower riders in corners. At no time did the tyres feel like I was approaching their limit, in fact, I have no doubt I could have pushed them much harder without any issues.

The Ohlins also worked really well and was delighted with their performance. I have aways been a sceptic when it comes to upgrading suspensions components to this level but am now convinced they are worth the money. After two days of track work the tyres, while being used, looked in pretty good condition with little scrubbing. As stated prior, I wasn't pushing as hard as possible, however, in two days of track work I didn't have one sphincter moment.

FWIW, the Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa's have become my tyre of choice and if you're thinking about upgrading to Ohlins and can afford...do it, you won't regret it.

SilverArrow · 01-31-2012, 06:08 AM

Good review mate, thanks for sharing

I've used 2 sets of DRC and I'm quite happy with the performance especially on the road (it has more thread to disperse water and not as slippery/scary as the Diablo Super Corsa). I've also done 4 track days at the Sepang F1 Circuit and found out that it provides good cornering grip as the side wall is the same compound as the Diablo Super Corsa (SC2). However, grip during hard braking before Turn 1 and Turn 15 is not that great as the centre compound is hard and does not provide as much grip as the SC2.

Both set of DRCs gave me around 7200km, road + track days.

wattsy_rules · 01-31-2012, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverArrow

Good review mate, thanks for sharing

I've used 2 sets of DRC and I'm quite happy with the performance especially on the road (it has more thread to disperse water and not as slippery/scary as the Diablo Super Corsa). I've also done 4 track days at the Sepang F1 Circuit and found out that it provides good cornering grip as the side wall is the same compound as the Diablo Super Corsa (SC2). However, grip during hard braking before Turn 1 and Turn 15 is not that great as the centre compound is hard and does not provide as much grip as the SC2.

Both set of DRCs gave me around 7200km, road + track days.

I agree. The tyre has more tread which is why I was a bit sceptical. I must confess I don't brake super hard so didn't have any issues at the two hairpins (turns 4 and 10), but would agree that hard braking would be their only real limitation.

S&Kmotorrad · 01-31-2012, 12:19 PM

I've also put on the DSC, yet it is a SP version, meaning in state side its the OEM fitment for Ducati, according to the rep here, its equivalent compound in between SC2 and SC3.

I've used two track days so far, my last track day was in Oct 30th, and took the suggestion of track side tire guy, and it is working very well for me.

one note i have in mind, it has very soft side wall, make sure you have the correct tire pressure to get enough contact patch to heat up the carcass properly in order to work for you. I did 33F and 27R (hot) FYI.

SilverArrow · 01-31-2012, 12:46 PM

Yup, correct tyre pressure is very important especially for track days. I normally have 30psi for the front and 29/28psi for the rear.

For road riding, I prefer to have the DRC as it gives me more confidence riding in the wet as it rains very often here in KL, Malaysia.

For track use, most of my buddies including me loves the Diablo Super Corsa (SC2). The grip is excellent and gives better confidence especially during hard braking. In fact, for the Malaysian Super Series (ASBK Champion Glenn Allerton participated in this event last year), the racers all used SC2. If I'm not mistaken, Glenn managed to hit 303kmh at Sepang main straight before braking hard for Turn 1 and his best time was 2.09 while the other riders were averaging 2.15. The combination of the S1000RR + SC2 is superb !!!

S&Kmotorrad · 01-31-2012, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverArrow

Yup, correct tyre pressure is very important especially for track days. I normally have 30psi for the front and 29/28psi for the rear.

For road riding, I prefer to have the DRC as it gives me more confidence riding in the wet as it rains very often here in KL, Malaysia.

For track use, most of my buddies including me loves the Diablo Super Corsa (SC2). The grip is excellent and gives better confidence especially during hard braking. In fact, for the Malaysian Super Series (ASBK Champion Glenn Allerton participated in this event last year), the racers all used SC2. If I'm not mistaken, Glenn managed to hit 303kmh at Sepang main straight before braking hard for Turn 1 and his best time was 2.09 while the other riders were averaging 2.15. The combination of the S1000RR + SC2 is superb !!!

i just realized you are using Rosso Corsa, I'm using the reference of SuperCorsa...

ooops!

yeah, most of people didn't like the flex on the tire, little too soft, i found them a better braking feel, i had my front tire to be at 30 psi, that didn't work out very well, felt like the front was about to collapse on me...

give DSC a try if you hadn't already!! same thread pattern as road race version, but, they are SP version (should be a little cheaper).

joew4505 · 02-22-2012, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S&Kmotorrad

i just realized you are using Rosso Corsa, I'm using the reference of SuperCorsa...

ooops!

I don't think Pirelli can make their tire names any more difficult to figure out. They all sound the same and their seems to be fractional differences between them. After a lot of searching I still can't find what the difference is between their many makes and models of tires.

I ran the Rosso Corsa's last summer and had a great experience with them. I plan to use them this year as both my street and track day tire.

S&Kmotorrad · 02-22-2012, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joew4505

I don't think Pirelli can make their tire names any more difficult to figure out. They all sound the same and their seems to be fractional differences between them. After a lot of searching I still can't find what the difference is between their many makes and models of tires.

I ran the Rosso Corsa's last summer and had a great experience with them. I plan to use them this year as both my street and track day tire.

i heard great review for them as well....

post your thoughts and comments when you can...really thinking to get them for my other bike, just didn't know how much they improved from their last version...

my experience with the Rosso wasn't pleasant at all, perhaps, the tire was old as a rock...

catattacksdog · 02-25-2012, 04:07 PM

My local shop said that they just released a new Rosso Corsa 2. Anyone ran these yet?

RRrider · 03-04-2012, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joew4505

I don't think Pirelli can make their tire names any more difficult to figure out. They all sound the same and their seems to be fractional differences between them. After a lot of searching I still can't find what the difference is between their many makes and models of tires.

I ran the Rosso Corsa's last summer and had a great experience with them. I plan to use them this year as both my street and track day tire.

this is SO true. Even within a particular name, like Diablo Supercorsa, which I ran last summer, they have the SP version (which you get OEM on some bikes) designed for the street, and then the SC1, SC2, and (depending on year) SC0 and SC3 which are all track tires (with DOT rating and also as slicks).

these tires behave very differently! I personally don't like running the SCx on the street as they never really get up to temperature, but they are a DREAM on the track! I'd like to try the SP...