EICMA: Aprilia Goes Big

Aprilia generated big news at EICMA. First, the Tuono V4 1000 evolves into the Tuono V4 1100 to increase "drivability" and quality of throttle response, making the engine more flexible and pleasant in everyday use on the road.

The extra cubes come from enlarging cylinder bore from the original 78mm to 81. In this number, there is an extra meaning: This is the maximum bore allowed for four-cylinder 1000cc MotoGP engines, and next year Aprilia will be racing in that series with a bike powered by a dedicated version of the 65-degree V-4 sporting an 81mm bore to take full advantage of the rules.

A byproduct of the R&D work that the Romano Albesiano-led technical team has been doing to develop the MotoGP engine, the updated V-4 makes a claimed 175 peak horsepower and 88.5 pound-feet of torque, numbers that should result in the strongest naked bike in production.

The Tuono will come in two versions, RR and Factory, the second one being the richest and most refined. The chassis and related ergonomics have been revised to make the bike more comfortable and enjoyable to ride thanks to well-calibrated details, like the combination of a 15mm lower seating position, a narrower handlebar, and a larger upper fairing for a vastly reduced air pressure on the chest and arms of the rider and, consequently, superior comfort at high cruising speeds.

Moreover, the 1100 is equipped with a full APRC electronics suite, the most advanced in production today, with very aggressive graphics inspired by those of the factory RSV4 racers. The V4 RR is equipped with a fully adjustable, inverted Sachs 43mm fork, steering damper, and fully adjustable link-actuated Sachs shock. The Factory edition gets Öhlins suspension. Brembo supplies the 320mm front disc brakes and M432 radial-mount monoblock calipers.

Front-end geometry is set at 24.7 degrees of rake and 99.7mm of trail. Wheels are cast aluminum in 3.5 x 17 front and 6.00 x17 rear sizes, shod with Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa radials in 120/70-17 front and 190/55-17 sizes for the RR. The Factory rolls on 200/55-17 rear rubber, optional for the RR. Seat height is down to 32.48 inches, and dry weight (in this example, “dry” means no battery or fluids) is said to be just 405.6 pounds.

The second big shot from Aprilia is the extensively revised RSV4 superbike, coming in RR and RF executions. While the rolling gear received only minor adjustments to chassis geometry that was already honed to an almost perfect level of efficiency, the engine has undergone a massive upgrade that projected it past the 200-horsepower mark. This is the obvious result of the experience that the Aprilia engineering team collected through development of the ART MotoGP racers of Randy de Puniet and Alex Espargarò that were the most competitive among the CRT entries.

The 65-degree V-4 now generates 201 hp at 13,000 rpm and 84.8 lb.-ft. of torque at 10,500 rpm, a substantial increase in power and rpm over the previous unit that was delivering 184 hp at 12,500 rpm and 86.3 lb.-ft. at 10,000 rpm. The engine has been revised in all basic factors, starting from the compression ratio, bumped from the previous 13:1 to the present 13.6:1, cam timing and profile, ports shape, dynamic air intakes, and related airbox. The new 81mm bore was not adopted, so the engine maintains its original measurements: 78mm bore and 52.3mm stroke.

The RSV4 just won the World Superbike Championship, both rider and manufacturer titles, so maybe it doesn’t need the new super-oversquare engine. The new unit breathes through 48mm throttle bodies and variable geometry runners are used on both RR and RF. Two injectors per cylinder meter fuel.

This is a very powerful evolution of the RSV4 RR/RF, and both versions are equipped with Aprilia’s supreme electronics suite. The RSV4 RR comes with Sachs suspension and cast aluminum wheels, while the RSV4 RF gets an Öhlins fork and shock, and forged aluminum wheels. The braking system is the same adopted to the Tuono V4 1100, with twin Brembo 320mm discs and M432 radial-mount calipers. In both cases, Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa radials come in 120/70-17 and 200/55-17 sizes.