Click above for more shots of the Aprilia RS4
Aprilia is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to small-bore 125 and 250cc road-racers, as well as in the 450cc off-road and supermoto categories. These successes have led the Italian company to branch out further, this time into the hotly-contested Superbike World Championship. The machine it will be doing battle with is the RSV 4, a brand new design using a brand new engine. That engine is very different from the normal inline four-cylinder Japanese models against which Aprilia will compete, as it uses a V4 design with the cylinders canted 65 degrees apart. The one-liter engine produces "well over 200 HP" in race trim, and a street-tuned version should for forthcoming. It probably goes without saying that we are anxiously awaiting the start of the 2009 season to see how well a small manufacturer like Aprilia can compete against the big factory teams of the Japanese manufacturers. Even more important to us, though, is how well the street version will compete against the other liter bikes already for sale.
[Source: Aprilia via Hell for Leather]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DIRETTORE @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:13PM
* Well, again I have to ask, how is it that these small motorcycle manufactures' Aprilia, Ducati, etc can squeeze > 200 HP/L & car builders struggle to get 100HP/L. Wazup with that?
Remember the Taurus SHO?
Why is there not more project interchange?
Nick Vrana @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:56PM
Blame emissions laws. These bike motors throw out ridiculous amounts of crap for there size. I heard a percentage (can't remember exact number) but like 50%+ of all emissions are from smaller motors (motorcycles, 4 wheelers, go-karts, and lawnmowers). There's also the fact they're not exactly designed for 100k+ mile driving.
chris @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:58PM
Cars need torque to move their much greater mass, bikes don't need torque nearly as much. That's why people put Hayabusa engines into Smarts and old Minis, but not Corollas for example since it probably wouldn't be any faster than a stock Corolla unless it's turbocharged, which could be done to the Toyota engine anyways.
Yubastard @ Feb 23rd 2008 4:42AM
true, true... awesome questions and awesome answers.
good work, team... go team Autoblog! *hides-and-looks-thru-a-hole*
MikeW @ Feb 24th 2008 8:07PM
Not only do motorcycle engines put out incredible hp/liter.
They also put out really high torque/liter, 85ft-lbs/liter on the highest of high.
How many motorcycles don't have catalytic converters now a days?
MasterCKO @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:17PM
What a beauty.
mk @ Feb 22nd 2008 7:24PM
200hp per liter. That is insane.
V4 seems like a good way to go. I perennially wonder why, in motorcycling, where space is at an extreme premium, why narrow-angle V engines in sport bikes are a bit rare. 90-degree V twins are common, and the VF/VFR series have had a V4 for some time.
But for engines of four cylinders, it seems like inline wide engines are more popular.
I wonder who will come up with a very-narrow angle V4, V5, or even V6 in the same cylinder block, like the VR6 and W12/16 engines that VW uses.
canted forward, those engines could be quite compact for a multi-cylinder mill, and low, narrow, and easier to package. Maybe with the advent of Direct injection, rather than intake port injection, we'll see more of that.
MikeW @ Feb 24th 2008 7:56PM
90 degree can be balanced pretty well.
Use a 180 degree crank V4 (honda interceptor) and it is even better.
http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/V-TWIN-7.html
BMW has their engine really canted forward
http://images.sportrider.com/bikes/2005/2005-bmw-k12s-g-29-zoom.jpg
http://images.sportrider.com/bikes/2005/2005-bmw-k12s-g-30-zoom.jpg
DIRETTORE @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:01PM
? Really?
According to Jeremy Clarkson, its mostly from cows farting! :D
Pack that in your pipe & smoke it Brussells!
Think they'll be sending cows emissions tickets?
mk @ Feb 23rd 2008 3:04PM
Wha???
I think you have been smoking something, man.
Kevin White @ Feb 22nd 2008 8:29PM
Aprilia has raced in Superbike for years with the Mille, and had some success early on (Corser). However, they were decidedly UNsuccessful in MotoGP with the RS Cube (which was an inline-three) despite some high technology. It will be interesting to see how this new package performs on the track.
fireblade @ Feb 23rd 2008 12:55AM
Actually all new motorcycles meet epa standards. All the one litre bikes have cats on them. My '07 R1 has two cats.
As far as v4 go, they are friggin expensive to produce. Parallel fours are a lot cheaper to manufacture. Bike engines generally are not made to run for 100k. Most sport bikes have redlines of 12k+. When is the last time that you seen a street car rev that high without seizing?
HotRodzNKustoms @ Feb 23rd 2008 1:29AM
200hp/l but it will only last 20k-30k miles between rebuilds.
Michael Facey @ Feb 23rd 2008 2:53AM
There's a lot of people talking a lot of BS here. First of all, there are a number of high performance cars squeezing around 200hp/l out of their engines. For example the Evo IX FQ400. Only difference is that a lot are not normally aspirated.
As for 1000cc, high performance bikes not lasting 100k km. That's just ridiculous. Maybe a Ducati or Aprilia wouldn't, but they already start falling apart after 100km of driving. The high performance bikes from Kawasaki, Yamaha and Suzuki can quite easily reach high mileages if well maintained.
MasterCKO @ Feb 23rd 2008 4:43AM
thanks for pointing all that out. I was about to post a similar comment, but found yours. the peanut gallery can be so ridiculous sometimes.
HeyHuub @ Feb 23rd 2008 11:05AM
My brother has an Aprilia RSV 1000 and has put about 20000 miles on it, if not more. He hasn't had one major problem.
Rick @ Feb 23rd 2008 1:31PM
Great, a fanboy of Japanese bikes. I would say that engine lifetimes for high RPM street bike engines are on par for all. As for racing bikes, if the results of the last few years are anything to use as data, then Italian bikes seem to have the power and reliability to win. As I write this, a Ducati 1098 just won the first round of the World Superbike Championship.
Cheesemeister @ Feb 23rd 2008 5:41AM
Don't compare duc engines to aprilia engines. The aprilia rsv's have bulletproof engines built by rotrax from austria. Can do 60.000 miles easily, wouldnt want to say that about the average duc engine.
This is the sp version btw in other words the homologation special for World superbikes.
Shoeb Khan @ Feb 23rd 2008 6:09PM
Looks like a Busa Ball Buster
Alex @ Feb 25th 2008 10:31AM
i. want. that. bike.
i love my supermotard and i've been waiting years for an Aprilia Superbike. I can't wait for this to show up!