Video: Aprilia RSV4 v Nissan GT-R: Battle of the computers

Electronic rider aids are where it’s at right now, love ’em or loathe ’em, and the Aprilia RSV4 Factory APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) has the smoothest, most sophisticated system of any current motorcycle.

The Italian machine’s clever computerised brain will help you change gear, control a spinning rear wheel, keep the front wheel on the ground under hard acceleration and even help you launch away from the traffic lights. You still need skill and bravery to ride the 180bhp superbike fast, but as our previous tests have shown, the electronics makes it a lot easier.

Over in the car world, they have a four-wheeled version of the Aprilia, called the Nissan GT-R – you’ve probably seen it on TV playing out its role as the safety car in BSB. Because it’s got four wheels and therefore won’t fall over, it takes a little less skill and bravery to drive fast. You could say that with its electronic stability control, four-wheel-drive and ABS, the GT-R is a PlayStation on wheels (the in-car navigation screen even uses the same graphics as the Gran Turismo computer game) and almost as safe.

So how do these two marvels of electronic and mechanical engineering feel when you push them around the track? How quickly do they accelerate, brake and more importantly, which is the fastest around a lap?

We took both to the Blyton Park Raceway in Gainsborough with an empty track and a datalogger to find out…

Read the full test in this week’s issue of MCN (October 19), on sale now.

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