Italian automotive porn 458 Italia vs Ducati 1198S
 

Best video I have seen this year -- bar none

"lamborghini declined to test their superleggera against it... so we needed to find another Italian to compare it with"

The greatest thing about this comparison is that the Ducati is that its in my price range.

i like everything about the 458, just still not feeling the front nose

The other greatest thing is 90% of the people who buy a ducati or any superbike will never be able to use even 50% of what it can do. It really does take skills and balls to ride that bike fast. But the ferrari on the other hand will be easy as pie to drive. I love them both. hahaha :)

It's in the price range but not many people are willing to fork such amount of $ for a bike. Plus a pro can easily ride a 600cc bike way faster than average people riding this Ducati.

Great post OP, saved to favourites.

awful video, great machines and motor trend sucks as a magazine. Road and track tested a a 458 with the superleggera and for those who want to know: its a dead heat.

While I agree with you both, most people lack the skill to push the limits of a Ducati and extract its true abilities, its not just about pushing performance limits.The feeling, the quality, the engineering are all things you can enjoy without a race track to practice on.

the ducati's are sweet sounding machines.
My buddy bought an 1198S earlier this year.

Jesus that Ferrari is heavy.

^Yes, I was quite astonished to see it weighing 3,400lbs.

that video was awesome, but i swear the ferrari looks lighter then 3400 lbs

Streets of Willow is a terrible place to exploit the advantages of motorcycle vs. car and still the Ducati stomps!

I am not sure if this is still the case, but a few years ago....despite its "prestigious", Italian-made image, ducatis has always been the slowest supersport bike of its class compared to the Japanese brand (which cost a lot less money)

1/4 mile and around the track, other liter bike like R1, GSXR1000, CBR954RR can easily smoke a ducati 999.

i know exactly what you mean. but keep in mind the 999 was a flop, and until the 1098 came out the last good ducati was the 996 which came out 10 years ago. the new ducatis however are a shit ton better than their predecessors in terms of performance and reliability. i test rode an 848 a few months back and the bike was very solid. compared to my gixxer the v-twin had much more low end, felt very nimble and the brakes were amazing. i think for me looks alone would justify paying a premium. the damn things just look so menacing.

I found the GT2 guy's attempt to imitate Clarkson's way of speaking and gesturing amusing.

True. My ZX10 would stomp an 1198S and building it cost less than half the price of the Ducati. Ducati's are all image, they're shitty bikes to own.

Nice video though.

only way for a zx10 to stomp a ducati is to have way more hp :) ...and hope the track has lots of long straights

Epicness, if you guys want more 458 action, you should check out the italian job.

I wonder how much more of a gap there would've been if motoGP riders like stoner rode for the ducati hot lap :D

Spoken like someone who believes in Ducati hype rather than real-world stats :)

real-world stats as in this year's wsbk results? :p

Haha don't get me started on World Superbike's VS street bikes. Ducati also broke the bank to finish 3rd and have pulled out of WSBK because they can't afford to try and keep their bikes competitive. They're a small factory using an engine configuration that's now gone the way of the dodo.

They're nice bikes don't get me wrong but having ridden a lot of them, and owned a Ducati that turned out to be a lemon - I would never buy one (again).