Ducati has taken the wraps off its new engine – the Testastretta DVT (desmodromic variable timing). It is the Italian manufacturer’s first engine with variable timing of both, the intake and the exhaust camshafts.
The new Ducati Testastretta DVT is an 1198cc engine that produces 160bhp at 9,500rpm and a maximum peak torque of 136Nm at 7,500 rpm. The valves have desmodromic actuation and the engine has also been endowed with an anti-knock sensor, pretty much like the one in the power plant of the new Kawasaki Ninja H2R.
Ducati’s DVT technology is a continuously-variable one, with the variators integrated into the pulleys. In the absence of a fixed valve overlap, the response is smoother at various rpm values, no matter how low or how high. The torque is more evenly spread across the rev band. The Italian manufacturer claims that while they have increased the power, the fuel efficiency has been increased by eight per cent too.
Ducati is tight-lipped about the bikes that will get this engine but there are rumours floating around the web about the new Multistrada getting it first. It is expected to be revealed to the world at the upcoming 2014 EICMA event. There is a high chance of this new engine making its way to the heavily revised 1299 Panigale range.
Check out the video where the new engine is explained by the engineer
