Road-Going Track Weapon: The Lamborghini Huracan STO

In a dynamic presentation and driving experience of The Lamborghini Huracán STO (Super Trofeo Omologata), media and Lamborghini customers took a fleet of 4 Huracán STOs through its paces around a custom track, laid out within the compound of Changi Exhibition Centre between 7 December to 9 December 2021. While other cars are presented on a glitzy stage or a closed off event space, the STO was presented on a racetrack - and there is a very good reason for this.

You see, the Huracán STO isn't meant to be just another flamboyant supercar for the collection, but is a road homologated super sports car, inspired by the Huracán GT3s immense success on the track, winning the 12 Hours of Sebring twice, and the 24 Hours of Daytona thrice. The STO’s tagline, “Based on a True Story”, underlines the intent that the road-going STO is primed to take as much structural and technological reference as possible to the GT3 race car. In essence, the STO is optimised for track use, and is designed to deliver a race car driving experience with track capabilities to its users.

To effectively translate this authentic race car driving experience from the GT3 to the STO, Lamborghini has been drastic with its weight-saving efforts, incorporating carbon fibre into more than 75% of the body panels, in particular, the Cofango - a specially designed body component that incorporates the front hood and fenders. Together with a revised exterior shape, the STO’s exterior design efforts seemed focused on maximising frontal aerodynamics and weight reduction - all key attributes of a proper race car. On the track, this weight reduction is translated to a car that feels extremely light and agile for its size, ready to leap and dive at your discretion. Due to the reduced weight, exiting corners under hard acceleration takes a little bit of getting used to at first, as the STO does fool you into thinking that it is floating away - but after a few warm up laps, its evidently clear that the grip is present, and it then becomes easy to fully enjoy the STO for the feather-weighted beast that it is. Although the car has a modified windscreen that is lightweight and thinner than regular windscreens, the insulation was admirable. I had somewhat expected harsher cabin conditions where road and engine noise would be quite prevalent, but I was still able to have a proper conversation with my passenger during the drive. Of course, I could still hear the car from inside the cabin, but I was somewhat disappointed that I wasn't able to enjoy the full magnitude of the STO's roar from inside the cabin in the same way that the bystanders on trackside were able to. In this regard then, perhaps Lamborghini has under-promised on the comfort aspect of the STO, and the car is actually more comfortable than one might have been led to believe - a great thing if you are considering the STO for 'civilian' use.

Powering the STO will be a 5.2L naturally aspirated V10, which pushes out 640 BHP and delivers 565 Nm of torque. On paper, the car will do 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds flat, which isn’t the fastest road-going Huracán ever. However, with the STO’s aerodynamic package and an enlarged rear wing providing adjustable downforce settings, the STO should be the quickest Huracán around a race track and will be well primed to mimic a similar driving profile to the GT3. In Trofeo mode (track optimised), which is easily selected via a button located at the bottom of the steering wheel, the STO evokes a menacing predisposition, egging you to really get into it with its super quick gear shifts from its dual clutch box. When you open up your throttle and get to higher speeds, the engine note is mesmerising, and has a gospel-like quality to it. In STO mode (normal driving) however, the STO is capable of being quite docile, feeling smooth and refined at low speeds - something that does not usually go hand-in-hand with high powered dual clutch transmission cars. While I wasn't expecting the ride quality to be plush, the car was once again actually more comfortable than expected, and I don't think it will be too difficult living with the STO on a day-to-day basis.

The V10 power unit used in the STO is described by Lamborghini as its highest performing naturally aspirated engine to date, and it comes amid some speculation that this might be the last V10 produced by Lamborghini. Though Lamborghini did not confirm if the STO would indeed be their last V10 powered supercar, Mr Francesco Scardaoni, Regional Director of Automobili Lamborghini has confirmed Lamborghini’s plans for electrification in the future. If however, the STO does indeed turn out to be the last V10 powered car produced by Lamborghini, then it would seem an appropriate swansong and application for this respected and beloved power unit.

Credits: