Internal combustion is a complex chemical process, fuel and air are burnt and compressed within the engine cylinder to create energy that pushes the piston out to produce movement and emotion. For more than a century this process has been fettled and refined and the result has been some exquisite pieces of engineering, like the naturally aspirated V10 in this Lamborghini Huracán STO.
The Huracán STO combines Lamborghini’s highest-performing V10 engine to date with extreme aerodynamics, track-honed handling dynamics, and lightweight components. ‘STO’ stands for Super Trofeo Omologata and Omologata means homologation. So, this STO is a street-legal Huracán heavily inspired by the Huracán Supertrofeo and GT3 EVO race cars, a supercar based on a true story.
It has been created by Lamborghini to trigger pure child-like emotions in your everyday life and the Huracán STO has certainly achieved this. Case in point, I was parked on the side of the road and a woman knocked on the driver’s side window and asked if she could take a photo next to Lambo with her son and her mother. Three generations of one family admiring this outrageous orange supercar, it’s what Lamborghini is all about!
Then the young boy asked me to blip the throttle and the expression on his face when I did was priceless, a look of amazement and joy and I thought to myself ‘That boy is going to have a Lamborghini poster on his wall from now on’. The Lamborghini produced pure passion that not only made children smile, but adults alike because every person who heard or saw the STO responded with numerous expletive-filled versions of “wow!”
Five point two litres of epic V10 engine producing 470kW of power at 8,000rpm and 565Nm of torque at 6,500rpm are unleashed when you push the fighter pilot style start button on the centre console. There is no quiet start mode in the Lambo, so you will wake up the neighbours several blocks away. Three drive modes are available, STO, Trofeo – the dry performance mode with the ESC set to Trofeo, and Pioggia is your rain mode. You move between them using the switch at the base of the Alcantara wrapped steering wheel. It should be no surprise when I say that the ride in STO mode is firm and even harder in Trofeo mode and the cabin is noisy.
But I could not help but smile every moment that I was behind the wheel of the Huracán STO. That V10 engine sits directly behind your left shoulder and when you are hard on the throttle you don’t just hear the ‘whopper whopper’ of the engine, but feel it through your entire body as well. When you are admiring the STO at a standstill you can even carefully remove the engine cover, with the help of second person, to get a close up look at this masterpiece of internal combustion.
If you are feeling brave in the rear-wheel drive Huracán you can chase the 8,500rpm red line atop the full digital driver’s dash. In Trofeo mode the top of the taco lights up blue and flashes before you select second gear in the 7-speed dual clutch transmission, by which time you are most likely exceeding the speed limit. The response from the gearbox when you flick the column-mounted large metal paddle shifters is instantaneous.
Get it all right and the STO will do 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds and on to a top speed of 310km/h! Zero to 200km/h is dispatched in just nine seconds and the acceleration on tap from the V10 engine in the STO will excite every fibre of your being. It may sound a bit scary, but it really isn’t. In fact, the only scary moment will come when you fill the STO up with premium petrol. I used 19.4L/100km for my day of making memorable moments and the official combined fuel consumption is 13.9L/100km.
This particular Huracán STO has been heavily customised using Lamborghini’s Ad Personam service. The exterior colour is called Arancio Alberich and it has been combined with the full exterior Carbon Pack in Shiny Carbon with three separate livery packs. There is a special key that unlocks the front cover and the engine cover. When you do flip the nose up it reveals a small storage space between the front wheels, it’s so small I couldn’t see many owners bothering to use it all.
The wheels are Hek 20″ Monolock Forged in Shiny Black, with the central lock in Black and wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza Race tyres. Stopping power is phenomenal thanks to the Carbon Ceramic Material R brake discs with the calipers in orange that will pull the STO up from 100-0km/h in just 30.0 metres. One option box you will definitely want to tick is the Lifting System that raises the nose to lessen the chance of damaging the carbon fibre front splitter.
The customisation continues on the interior with the exclusive STO-TRIM in bi-colour Sportivo Alcantara in Nero Cosmus with contrasting Arancio Leonis, which after 5,000km of press car use was starting to look a little tired. The front seats are heated and have power adjustment for recline, forward/back, seat height front and rear and 4-way lumbar support. But even in the lowest driving position in the STO I still felt like I wanted to be a little further down.
Behind the seats is a Titanium Roll Bar and if you look you will see a camera mounted on it, this one combined with the camera in the windscreen are part of the optional Lamborghini telemetry system. STO’s fully connected telemetry system allows drivers to monitor and record their performance on the racetrack to be analysed via the Lamborghini UNICA app, which connects to the on-board cameras and to the Cloud. The subsequent analysis can precisely track any issues with the driving, providing feedback that can improve the performance of both the driver and the car.
The stripped-out race car nature of the STO’s interior also includes floor mats in Aluminum, carbon fibre door trims with a strap as a door pull/handle on the inside and Dark Chrome and Carbon Twill package on the dash. You can see nothing using the rear-view mirror so thankfully the STO does have a rear-view camera, but no front or rear parking sensors. You do get standard cruise control along with auto lights with auto high beam and auto wipers.
There is very limited storage space in the cabin with just a slim glove box and barely any space on the passenger side floor if someone is sitting in that seat. The lack of cabin space was highlighted when I picked my son up from school and he had nowhere to put his school bag, so he just had to hold it on his lap, but he didn’t really mind doing that.
Your phone is placed on a ledge between the two seats and can partially slip under the arm rest so it won’t slide around while you are having a good time driving. Here there is one 12V socket and two USB-A ports to charge or connect your phone to the infotainment system via wired Apple CarPlay.
Lamborghini have an exclusive partnership with watch maker Roger Dubuis and this is the Excalibur Spider Huracán MB, which is limited to just 88 pieces. The honeycomb motif present in the design of the Excalibur Spider Huracán MB reflects the hexagonal dashboard of the Lamborghini Huracán. This watch has a 12° tilted balance double barrel pink gold and titanium case and an interchangeable strap with Quick Release System and a rotor design that matches the wheel of the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO 2. This particular strap is made from rubber and Alcantara with an inner lining that features the unique Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R pattern.
The Lamborghini Huracán STO comes with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty and owners can opt to purchase an additional 12-month warranty for $8,334 and $14,935 for 24 months. Maintenance packages include your standard services and cost $7,210 for three years or $15,860 for five years. Generally, one off track days aren’t an issue when it comes to not voiding your warranty. However obligations under the warranty is excluded if the vehicle is assessed and deemed to improper use, negligence, accidents or incorrect vehicle maintenance, as well as racing or if it’s been modified with unsuitable parts that may affect the homologation and/or safety requirements.
The sonic journey that the Lamborghini Huracán STO takes not only the driver on, but bystanders also, is one worthy of preservation in the history books written about the internal combustion engine. The STO is so poignant that it can motivate the most unlikely people to want to risk it all to have a V10 Lamborghini in the garage. The starting price for the Lamborghini Huracán STO is $607,920 excluding on-road costs and as tested with a long list of Ad Personam features this STO was $867,640 excluding on-road costs. If you want to turn your Lamborghini dreams into reality, you can configure your Huracán STO online or visit your preferred Lamborghini dealer for more information. You may just be lucky enough secure one of the last examples of this exceptional supercar for yourself, I assure you that you won’t be disappointed.
| Pros | Cons |
| The V10 engine | Driving position felt a little too high |
| The joy the STO brings the driver and bystanders | Limited storage available in vehicle |
| You can remove the engine cover to admire the V10 | There isn’t one in my garage |
Photograph by Driven Women Magazine.