2021 Ducati XDiavel Launched Overseas With Euro 5 Update, Two New Variants. Will It Come To India?

Despite meeting stricter emission norms, engine output has actually increased!

Ducati, being the intelligent and innovative manufacturer that it is, is using the transition to Euro 5 emission norms in a rather positive manner. It is optimising the combustion process in its engines to clean up tailpipe emissions, rather than bludgeoning its bikes to death with extra catalytic converters. As a result, most of its Euro 5 updated models manage to produce more power and torque than before, and the latest example is the 2021 XDiavel.

Sure, the exhaust system has been reworked, and the outrageous upward exiting twin pipes of the old bike have made way for slightly less exciting rear-facing ones, but the 2021 XDiavel is actually up on power and torque compared to the outgoing model. Output now stands at 160PS and 127Nm vs the previous 152PS and 126Nm. Both peak figures arrive at the same revs as before, 9500rpm and 5000rpm respectively. Even its weight is only up by a measly 1kg, so overall performance should almost certainly see an improvement.

In addition to emission-related updates, Ducati has also rolled out two new variants of the XDiavel: the S variant returns for the 2021 model year, but is now joined by the new Dark and Black Star variants. The XDiavel Dark replaces the base variant and now forms the entry-point into the model range, while the Black Star is the flagship version, finished in grey and matte black with lovely red inserts. In fact, even the engine cylinder head covers are finished in red, so this is technically a Testarossa!

Compared to the S variant, the Dark misses out on machined alloy wheels, diamond-like coating on the fork legs, the Ducati Multimedia system and the Brembo M50 calipers, making do with M4.32s instead. Mind you, they’re still monoblocks. As far as India is concerned, the Euro 5 update means the XDiavel now meets BS6 standards as well, so the bike is almost certainly on its way over sometime soon. The Dark and S variants are a sure thing, but we aren’t so certain about the Black Star. Only time will tell. The BS4 bike started at Rs 17,50,00, but Ducati’s BS6 price hikes have been frightfully huge so far, so we expect the 2021 XDiavel to sit around the Rs 19 lakh mark.