At last: the definitive work
We’ve seen glimpses of brilliance within Lambo’s V10 Huracan. The mighty reardrive STO sets that greatness free
Ferruccio Lamborghini didn’t believe in motorsport improving the breed, but here’s proof that it does: the Lamborghini Huracan STO (Super Trofeo Omologato) I’m driving in 35°C heat at the Vallelunga circuit. Racing ace Giacomo Barri (no relation) leads in another STO, helping me shake every last drop of performance from the bottle, and our wailing V10s are double-tracking like a Thin Lizzy solo.
The gist is that the STO transfers lessons learnt from the Super Trofeo one-make Huracan series, plus the more serious Huracan GT3 Evo racers that’ve won Daytona three times on the bounce – much of the capability of the latter; more of the approachability of the gentlemen-spec former. In doing so the STO steals the Performante’s crown as the most hardcore Huracan, and corrects an anomaly previously at the heart of the range: until now only the entry-level model was rear-wheel drive like the racecars. Now the STO is rear-wheel drive and the fastest, lightest and most expensive Huracan at £260,012.
Despite being built to monster circuits (Lamborghini’s simulator puts it 5.4sec quicker around the super-quick Daytona circuit versus the Performante, and just 2.4sec off the slickshod if power-capped GT3 Evo), the brief is to transport track-bound owners in some comfort and certainly without feeling they’ve already done a Daytona 24 Hours on the way there (though we’re track-only today).
Weight drops 43kg versus a Performante to 1339kg dry thanks to copious use of carbonfibre, there’s 420kg at 175mph (up 53 per cent on the Performante!), the chassis is uprated with stiffer anti-roll bars, and you sit in an interior dark, functional and a little foreboding like a fighter-jet cockpit. Carpets are replaced by carbon floor mats, there are vestigial carbon door cards, and carbon-shelled bucket seats that are as firm and supportive as they look, if ⊲
decently comfy too. Over my shoulder there’s a half rollcage, and Mad Max-style slats over the rear window block visibility, while onboard telemetry is primed to record/analyse my every move. You can even play back your laps on the in-car screen.
For all the familiar track-focused tropes, there’s also a surprising level of differentiation here: all the body bar the aluminium doors and roof is carbonfibre, the entire front end is now one piece and hinges forwards like a Miura clamshell to reduce fixings and therefore weight, plus the rear haunches have a more angular aesthetic lifted from the Super Trofeo.
The three-way adjustable rear spoiler is in its max aero setting, the drive mode set to hardcore Trofeo and we’re running optional semi-slick Bridgestone Potenzas that are designed to be like a more durable Michelin Cup 2 tyre. In fact, the STO is intended to feel as good on your first lap as the last – V10, carbon-ceramic brakes, 20-inch tyres and all. Reader, it does.
The STO’s irrepressible energy is bubbling before we’ve even left the pitlane. You feel it in the meaty directness of fixed-ratio steering (we’ve criticised the variable-ratio set-up in other Huracans before), aggressive throttle response, Brembo CCM-R brakes with a bitey, muscular feel, and the sense that you and this thing are locked-and-loaded, its controls like triggers such is the palpable mechanical and structural tightness. Even stroking along, the delectable V10 is working its magic, gargling and purring through lower revs like operatic warm-up exercises, the symphony now louder thanks to those notoriously pricey Akrapovic exhausts, if entirely appropriate given everything else is cranked to the max.
On cold tyres the Huracan STO initially feels so pointy as to be almost nervous. The front end runs a wider track and more aggressive camber, and there’s rear-wheel steering too, plus minimal bodyroll or pitch. It wants to bite and turn, and any bottled-up momentum at the apex escapes through an oversteer release valve. The first mid-speed corner on cold, new tyres makes me flinch like running my hand under a surprisingly hot tap.
It takes very little time for the tyres to switch on, though, and when they do they ground the Huracan’s reactivity like the track’s coated in a gossamer of chewing gum. Instead of being tip-toesy anxious, now you gain the confidence to chuck the Huracan around, to stand hard on those almighty brakes, work the steering with big positive inputs and go large on the throttle knowing that the grip will smear and bleed rather than snap. It is so much more intuitive and involving than the all-wheel-drive models. And then, through the really quick stuff you’ve got the godly squish of aero keeping you planted. Perfect.
The (unrestricted) V10 is said to be a direct lift from the GT3 Evo racer, but the Huracan is now a way off its 700bhp-plus turbo rivals from Ferrari and McLaren, and 631bhp is no more than a Performante (plus there’s a little less torque). Doubtless you’ve already guessed the STO remains a vividly rapid machine, one that serves as welcome reminder that the supercar performance race is a lesson in diminishing returns. Putting less torque on a higher shelf with a more progressive, naturally-aspirated delivery lets you work the tyres harder, feeling them chew at the surface progressively as torque builds rather than explodes.
This chassis and this delivery is a deliciously malleable combination, with the V10 noise to egg you on. It is the engine that makes the Huracan so addictively visceral above everything else, and the chassis now gives you the tools to do it so extrovertly.
Just before the first lockdown last year, I said the then new Huracan RWD Evo was not just the cheapest, but also the best Huracan you could buy, and that its existence must’ve tied the product planning people up in knots. Well, not any more. The STO has brought order.
Switch the tyres on and they ground the Huracan’s reactivity like the track’s coated in a gossamer of chewing gum
First verdict
Trumps the RWD Evo as the finest Huracan money can buy, thus restoring order. At last, the most expensive V10 Lambo is the best #####