Full Test: 2011 Ducati 848 EVO - Stealth Bomber

In fact, the only place where the 848 has been approved for competition among the middleweight landscape is in the U.S., where the AMA's Daytona SportBike category has allowed a wide variety of engine configurations and displacements to race against one another. Team Latus Motors Racing's Steve Rapp, and DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati's Bobby Fong and Michael Beck have been campaigning the smaller desmo with reasonable success, with Rapp finishing on the podium in seven of the season's 18 races, and Fong winning a photo finish over eventual champion Martin Cardenas in the first race at Virginia International Raceway.

That might explain why the U.S. - often last in line when country-specific variants of a particular model are slated for production - was the first country to get shipments of Ducati's latest version of the 848 for '11, christened the 848 EVO. And why we think that you might see more Ducatis running up front in the AMA Daytona SportBike class in '11.

Andiamo! ("let's go!")
Firing up the 848 EVO results in a bark that is slightly more muted than the previous 848. There's still plenty of the usual desmodromic basso profundo exhaust note present, but much of the edge has seemingly been lopped off. A look at the EVO's tail section reveals why: the EVO's twin underseat silencers are much longer than the previous units, with the ends protruding far beyond the tiny taillight perched at the tip of the angular tailpiece (the reason for these longer mufflers is part of what appears to be a stop-gap solution that we'll get into later).

Noticeable right off the bat is a slight dead spot around 3000 rpm that requires a little throttle and clutch finesse to get off the line smartly, especially with the V-twin's typical tall gearing. Thankfully the 848's wet clutch is far more durable and smoother in action than the dry clutch units found on the bigger desmos.

The ergos are unchanged from the previous generation, so all that needs to be said is that they're great for the racetrack or serious canyon use, but anything other than an aggressive pace on twisty tarmac and your wrists and backside will be begging for mercy in no time. Mirrors are great for a blurred view of your elbows, although all Ducati Superbikes now come with optional 30mm mirror stalk extensions; we weren't able to try these out, but the vibration from the V-twin's power pulses fuzzes out the image so badly that it'll be difficult to tell if it's a police cruiser or pickup truck behind you anyway.

The Showa suspension - especially the 43mm inverted front fork - has often been viewed as second-tier quality componentry that manufacturers use when mass production needs take precedence over maximum suspension performance. The Showa unit on the 848 EVO, however, demonstrates how far these supposedly B-league pieces have come, and how well they can perform when the right internal components are specified. There's plenty of compliance over the small bumps, yet the fork maintains excellent control during aggressive cornering and braking maneuvers without feeling harsh or a little vague in the middle of the suspension travel. Front-end feedback is abundant, with the rider always aware of the tire/pavement interface status at all times. The rear shock was similarly well-mannered, with none of the overly stiff spring or damping rates that plagued the 1098 series (our only complaint being the same nearly impossible access to the rebound adjuster through a misaligned hole in the swingarm). While performance is still not on the level of top-spec aftermarket pieces such as Öhlins, we were still very impressed with the 848 EVO's Showa components.

Overall handling was as we remembered with the previous generation 848: a little flighty under maximum acceleration over bumps (the tankslapping tendency thankfully quelled for the most part by the new steering damper) on corner exits, but otherwise very stable in all other phases of cornering. The 848 EVO is nimbler than its bigger desmo Superbike brethren; initial turn-in and major directional changes (i.e., chicanes and ess-turns) require less effort, plus steering with the new Pirellis is sharper. This means you have more options on where you can put the 848 EVO in a corner, instead of just one or two that only emphasize lean angle and corner speed.

Make no mistake, the 848 EVO can still rip off corner exits with the best of the middleweight crowd. With weight that's right in the ballpark but with a substantial horsepower (and especially torque) advantage, the Ducati generates speed more like a 750cc inline-four than any 600. The throttle response is silky smooth, allowing you to get on the throttle earlier and use the V-twin's torque to your advantage. And the 848 EVO has an extra 250 rpm before it hits the soft rev-limiter (now set at 10,750 rpm instead of 10,500 rpm), giving it a little bit of some much-needed overrev. But even on the racetrack, the EVO still didn't feel any faster than the old 848 on top end.

Considering some of the modifications that were done to the EVO engine (hottler cams, larger throttle bodies), it stands to reason that there might be a slight loss in lower-end power in exchange for some additional top-end steam. But even though the EVO catches back up to the standard 848 and supasses it at 9000 rpm, it's not by much; our EVO test unit peaked at 117 horsepower at 10,500 rpm, only 0.5 horsepower over the old version. What gives?

We mentioned earlier about how much longer the 848 EVO's underseat mufflers are than the previous model. Yet when we examined photos of the 848 EVO from Ducati's press kit, the mufflers seem to be the same size as before (take a look at the comparison shots). This led us to surmise that Ducati - as have many other OEMs - found some unexpected roadblocks in getting its latest sportbike onto U.S. shores.

As manufacturers squeeze more power from their engines, the incredibly complicated and laborious U.S. EPA emissions and noise standards become increasingly difficult to pass. One manufacturer rep confided to us that balancing these opposing forces has become "more of a juggling act now. In order to make more power, you have to cut back on noise somewhere, whether from the exhaust or somewhere else. And then you run into the emissions regs. It's becoming a very complicated and expensive battle." It's our theory that in its unhindered European form, the Ducati 848 EVO does crank out a bit more horsepower than the old 848 (Ducati claims six more horsepower at the crankshaft, equating to around five more at the rear wheel); stricter American emissions and especially noise tests forced the retrofit of the larger mufflers and most likely leaner fuel maps, killing off any power gains that would've been present otherwise.

At press time, there was no accessory "racing only" exhaust and ECU remap available from the Ducati Performance catalog, but you can be sure those parts will be available soon. We hope to get the 848 EVO back and do some fiddling with an aftermarket exhaust and fueling unit ourselves in the future.

Suggested Suspension Settings
Front: spring preload-4 lines showing on adjuster; rebound damping-11 clicks out from full stiff; compression damping-0.75 turns out from full stiff
Rear: spring preload-21mm from top of spring to end of threads on shock body; rebound damping-1.5 turns out from full stiff; compression damping-2 turns out from full stiff

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Specifications