2023 Panigale. I'm confused?

IMHO 2020 vs 2022 write-up

I have a 2020 V4S and just rode a 2022 V4S at Misano. I have to say the marketing jargon of the '22 change was pretty spot on. 1st & 2nd taller gears was a sizable improvement for hairpins, and the electronics upgrades dialed in the ability to hit a tight corner in 2nd or even 1st way higher in the revs, stay on the gas and exit with consistent confidence. I say this pissed off because it was noticeable enough to think..."I need an upgrade." End of the session my DRE instructor told me, "Lean less, more gas. You go too far over. More gas, more grip."
I never thought I'd hear that in my life.
They are little bullet points, but they are a big deal. The S is a package. The electronics are everything included. Tilt, acceleration, braking, engine braking, suspension, ABS, wheelie, traction control etc are all connected. These are not separate bells and whistles. Software updates can be pretty big feel / performance difference.

Right after I took my 2020 to the Ölhins booth at WDW and got a suspension set up from the source. The swede leans in and whispers, "I think you should turn off the DYNAMIC, it's better." Ok lets try it.
I'm off the track and have some mountains to cross. I'm hammering after 4 days of burnouts stunt riders parties all night & all Ducati racing. I was running around cars and bikes all day. I see another scant few cars in the distance with 2 bikes behind them. I think, 'I need to pass these ....... before the next set of curves.' I wind up behind them and blow past around Mach7 in retarded revs. The distant curve is a blur and becomes apparent it's a 90° left lined with stone walls and trees. Brakes, downshifting, there is zero room off the pavement. Forks bottom-out, front tire mashes and starts squirming, rear wheel dancing in the air left and right, a blink before I'm a painting on a stone wall, I let go of the brakes and fking turned.
My aging or growing up or both in that 5th of a second left me with two thoughts: 1) I got used to the electronics and they're not all that bad. 2) That was a severe exaggeration, I'm not doing that again.
Conclusion: DYNAMIC ON Street. DYNAMIC OFF at track, depends on track - testing a must.

Ducati just posted a list of 2023 World Premiers
9/2 The Unexpected
9/15 Ready for More?
9/29 Unlock the Earth
10/7 This is Racing
10/20 Push Forward
10/28 Dare to be Bold
11/7 Next Gen Fredom

fire said:

Who cares? I don't understand the gatekeeping logic of skill level or intended use to justify the lack of significant year-over-year updates to a product? 4 minor ECU updates from '22 to '23 is not worth the justification to get a '23 regardless of end use. It's simply bad for consumers.

99% of every high-end thing isn't used at the semi-pro or above level. Why is that a factor to say the product shouldn't improve?

Those expensive golf clubs you bought aren't being used to winning a PGA course.
That amazing grill you got isn't getting you a Michelin Star.
Your Rolex Submariner isn't being taken 300m underwater.
That $10,000 graphine bicycle isn't winning you a leg in the Tour de France.

Click to expand...

Let me ask you a question: What constitutes a "significant year-over-year" update to a grill? To a driver? To a Submariner? And do you honestly expect manufacturers of these products to deliver that level of change every single year? If so, why and how do you think that would actually be a good thing for consumers? Beyond that, have you considered the amount of resources that would have to be allocated to designing, testing, and validating whatever changes would be so that they could roll out each year? Would the resulting impact on unit costs for these grills, golf clubs, watches and motorcycles be a good thing for consumers?

I'll answer your question: a lot of people "care" about a marketable and sustainable product life cycle, including folks who have very boring jobs like production planners, engineers, finance, and procurement. Revolutionary change every single model year is not sustainable for literally any product on the market, and frankly it's not realistic. Accordingly, that is not part of any major company's business strategy in the world, in fact it's quite the opposite. See: literally any manufacturing company on the Fortune 500 that produces consumer goods.

Desmolvr said:

Ducati just posted a list of 2023 World Premiers
9/2 The Unexpected
9/15 Ready for More?
9/29 Unlock the Earth
10/7 This is Racing
10/20 Push Forward
10/28 Dare to be Bold
11/7 Next Gen Fredom

Click to expand...

So which do you think is the date for the V4R?

V4Al said:

Let me ask you a question: What constitutes a "significant year-over-year" update to a grill? To a driver? To a Submariner? And do you honestly expect manufacturers of these products to deliver that level of change every single year? If so, why and how do you think that would actually be a good thing for consumers? Beyond that, have you considered the amount of resources that would have to be allocated to designing, testing, and validating whatever changes would be so that they could roll out each year? Would the resulting impact on unit costs for these grills, golf clubs, watches and motorcycles be a good thing for consumers?

I'll answer your question: a lot of people "care" about a marketable and sustainable product life cycle, including folks who have very boring jobs like production planners, engineers, finance, and procurement. Revolutionary change every single model year is not sustainable for literally any product on the market, and frankly it's not realistic. Accordingly, that is not part of any major company's business strategy in the world, in fact it's quite the opposite. See: literally any manufacturing company on the Fortune 500 that produces consumer goods.

Click to expand...

Great points

Desmolvr said:

Ducati just posted a list of 2023 World Premiers
9/2 The Unexpected
9/15 Ready for More?
9/29 Unlock the Earth
10/7 This is Racing
10/20 Push Forward
10/28 Dare to be Bold
11/7 Next Gen Fredom

Click to expand...

Unlock the earth?

The earth is locked. It’s like government land, they just own it somehow. I knew someone had the key but I didn’t think it was Claudio, man some pull right there. I wonder what’s in it, I’m pulling for hot women with ........ but it could be waffles.

Alf said:

So which do you think is the date for the V4R?

Click to expand...

10/7 This is racing

Alf said:

So which do you think is the date for the V4R?

Click to expand...

Nah for sure it's "11/7 Next Gen Fredom" Everyone can be Fred with a V4R. This is the revolution, the democratization of ability through chemistry.

As someone that work’s for ford motor company at a corporate level. Having them do minor updates year or year is a great thing long term. Ferrari started doing this with the 488, they decided to not throw away a decent car every few years. This is a good thing and it also allows them to sort out bogs and keep them away. Which why bikes like the 1199 never got all there issues sorted

It seems like this little German company has done this for years, I think it is called Porsche with the 911 (maybe someone has already mentioned it).

As someone that work’s for ford motor company at a corporate level. Having them do minor updates year or year is a great thing long term. Ferrari started doing this with the 488, they decided to not throw away a decent car every few years. This is a good thing and it also allows them to sort out bogs and keep them away. Which why bikes like the 1199 never got all there issues sorted