Lamborghini Huracan STO is lighter, quicker, louder

STO is short for Super Trofeo Omologata and as that name suggests this is very much a street-legal, full production version of the Super Trofeo and GT3 racing Huracans. Even compared to the previous range-topping Huracan Performante, the STO takes a far more motorsport inspired approach in its quest to take on rivals like the McLaren 765LT and Porsche 911 GT2 RS.

No surprise what the engine is – the normally-aspirated 5.2-litre V10 – and it gives the same power as the Performante at 640PS (470kW), backed up 565Nm (418lb ft) of torque at 6,500rpm. What’s changed is the car’s aero and, being rear-wheel-drive with a mostly carbon-fibre body, its weight. Oh, and its new and totally dramatic looks: the Performante by comparison appears like a car your granny would drive.

Weight is down by 43kg with a dry weight now of 1,339kg, and with a big array of new aero elements downforce is up – by 53 per cent over the Performante – along with a 37 per cent improvement to airflow. Lambo doesn’t say how much downforce, just that the Huracan STO achieves the highest level of downforce in its class.

As is often the case, such track-inspired changes are not reflected in traditional road-car performance yardsticks; with 0-62mph in 3.0 seconds and 0-124mph in 9.0 seconds, it is no quicker than the Performante. (On Lambo’s figures it is actually a tenth of a second slower). No matter. This is a car all about lap times or, as Lamborghini puts it, “the Huracan STO is confirmation that races are won in corners rather than on straights”.

The exterior design, worked on by both Squadra Corse race team and Centro Stile design department, is described as all new and optimised purely for best airflow. The body is notable for a one-piece front bumper, bonnet and wing assembly, a little Miura-like but more important lighter and offering quicker mechanical access in pit stops. There’s a new front splitter and new vents in the bonnet – as if with a colour scheme like this you could miss them. Incidentally the launch livery is a fetching combo of Blu Laufey and Arancio California.

Other aero highlights include a NACA duct in the rear apron, an air scoop to improve engine cooling, air deflectors, a “shark’s fin” on the engine cover, brake cooling ducts and a single slotted rear wing with double aerofoil. The wing is adjustable (manually) to find the right balance between downforce and drag depending in what circuit you are driving. The top speed, in the low downforce setting, is 192mph.

Apart from ditching the Performante’s all-wheel-drive system, the STO gets 75 per cent carbon body panels, lightweight magnesium wheels and thinner windscreen glass in the cause of getting down to its new fighting weight. The cabin is stripped back with lots more carbon, including full carbon race seats, mats instead of carpets and helmet storage bins.

There’s a similar motorsport focus in the running gear which here centres on wider tracks, stiffer bushing, rear-wheel-steering and specific anti-roll bars. How will it be on the road? Lamborghini’s MagneRide 2.0 should ensure the ride is tolerable (Lambo’s possibly ambitious word is “comfortable”), as long as you are in the road drive setting; there are also wet modes and Trofeo track mode. Brakes are carbon ceramic and the car comes with onboard telemetry so your crew in the pits can analyse your lap times.

Lamborghini’s chief technical officer, Maurizio Reggiani, said the STO had been created for the road but set up for the world’s most demanding tracks. “The extensive technical solutions and intelligence gained from both our Super Trofeo and GT3 programmes has been refined and embodied in the Huracan STO, allowing the pilot to experience the emotions of a racing driver, daily, in a road-legal Lamborghini super sports car able to take lap records.”

All that and a price from around £260,000 with orders being taken now and first deliveries promised for spring 2021.

The new car’s unveiling was timed to coincide with the announcement that back in the driving seat at Sant’Agta is the man credited with the company’s success within the Audi group, Stephan Winkelmann. The new president and CEO left Lamborghini to be president of Bugatti in 2016 after 11 years at Sant’Agata. Outgoing CEO Stefano Domenicali is leaving to head up Formula 1.

“Stephan Winkelmann has decisively shaped the history of Lamborghini,” says Audi chairman Markus Duesmann. “No one else stands more clearly for the Lamborghini brand, and he is exactly the right person to lead this unique brand into a successful future.”

What the new car’s unveiling was likely not timed to coincide with was Mercedes’ announcement today that its AMG GT Black Series has grabbed the ‘Ring record for a production sports car from the Lamborghini Aventador.

Can’t see the new boss putting up with that for long, can you?