Rennie Scaysbrook | April 19, 2022
The name Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa should be familiar to anyone with a sportbike bone in their body as it’s been Pirelli’s canyon-carver tire since coming out way back in 2003.
Over the last 19 years, the Diablo Rosso Corsa has evolved to the Rosso Corsa II and now the Rosso IV Corsa, forgoing the third iteration to keep the nomenclature consistent with the Diablo IV Rosso, which is the tire just below the Corsa on the sporting scale.
The IV Corsa is the sportiest tire Pirelli makes that isn’t primarily used for the racetrack (if you want straight-up racer performance, you’ll be looking at the Super Corsa SP, which gives outstanding grip but not the kind of longevity you’d want from a street tire).
Pirelli claims the new tire will offer higher grip in dry conditions thanks to a revised tread pattern that has a larger slick surface footprint (the solid gap on the tire between the tread pattern).
The important part is the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa is a dual-compound tire in both the front and rear constructions. Modeled on the Super Corsa SP, the middle section of the tire is all about sustaining big road miles without undue wear. The stiffer center is also heavily focused on wet-weather performance and stability, although I’d probably avoid long trips in the rain on a tire focused to this degree on sport performance.
The sides of the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa are much softer and focused primarily on cornering grip, feedback and agility.
The front tire is full silica compound that takes up roughly 45 percent of the section width in the center of the tire.
The center part of the rear tire is a full silica compound to help reduce warm-up times but the side compound is 100 percent carbon black, which offers excellent support for high horsepower and torque sportbikes at full lean when the throttle is being twisted.
The racetrack genes are evident here in the rear tire, the sides of which are the same compound as the SC3 race rubber—the hardest compound for race tires from the SCX, SC0, SC1 and SC2.
Front-tire grip and feel on the racetrack is superb, especially given it’s not Pirelli’s sportiest tire on offer.
Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa Tire Lowdown
Standout Feature: Exceptional feeling from the front tire under hard cornering
List Price: Starting at $180-$350
 Excellent front tire feel |
| Fast warm up on the street |
| Good longevity on a superbike after a full day on the track |
|
 A little stiff on the road holding |
| Needs a fast pace to really get working |
Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa Tire | Rider Analysis
I got the chance to sample the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa at the marvelous Mugello circuit in Italy and the surrounding hills early in the morning.
The first hit out in the countryside was interesting because it was bitterly cold, but it showed the tire’s versatility as it was quick to warm up and maintain a good degree of heat across the morning. This allowed the front tire to really show its worth, as it tracked the bumps and off-camber corners of the Italian countryside beautifully.
The ride is slightly on the stiff side for general cruising, but it’s far from a deal breaker if all you’re doing is riding on the street.
Fast canyon riding is the Diablo Rosso IV Corsa’s M.O, but the ride can be a touch on the stiff side for slow-speed riding.
However, where the tire really shines is the racetrack. We ran no tire warmers, and I primarily rode an R1 and S 1000 RR, the latter of which had never seen a new set of tires all day before I climbed on board. Hence, the rear looked decidedly shot, but it still offered surprisingly good acceleration grip and stability when opening the throttle mid-corner through Mugello’s downhill Correntaio corner at the back of the grandstand.
Again, the star for me was the front tire. I’ve been racing on Pirellis for the last few years and the feeling coming through the handlebars was very similar to what I’ve been used to on my GSX-R. The Diablo Rosso IV Corsa front tire offers exceptional turn speed and stability, and the fact that we did these laps on thoroughly worn tires was a testament to their durability and the performance still on offer when they wear down.
If you’re going for a tire that is never going to see a racetrack, these might be a bit extreme, but if you buy these tires with the thought of a few weekends of street scratching and the odd track day where you don’t want to bring tire warmers, these Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV Corsa will serve you perfectly.
Pirelli offers two front sizes and seven rears starting at a 150/60 ZR 17 up to the big daddy of a 200/ 60 ZR 17, so there should be a tire that’ll fit your bike easily.CN
For more information, visit www.pirelli.com
