Lamborghini Huracan STO review: Turning dreams into reality

Lamborghini's ultra-track-focused Huracan STO is the pinnacle of their sportscar platform, a swansong for the naturally aspirated V10, and the subject of envy for teenage boys worldwide.

I was one of those teenage boys, those who know me might even say I still am one. Like many others, I had a poster of a Lamborghini on my wall for the simple reason that it looked cool, sounded cool, and went very fast. 

In my time, that Lamborghini poster child was the Gallardo, the predecessor of the Huracan. Like the Huracan, it too had a low-slung silhouette with hard-edged lines and a raucous V10 that titillated a young me. 

When the Huracan came out in 2014, I exchanged my posters for laptop wallpapers as I continued to gaze longingly at its svelte yet aggressive styling, dreaming that some day I might be able to climb aboard and have a go at taming the raging bull.

10 years later, that day has finally come. In this time, I've managed to hit puberty, get my driver's license, graduate from college, somehow snag myself a job as an auto journo, and then somehow convince Lamborghini that I am worth lending a Huracan to. 

And as a celebration of 10 years of the Huracan, they let me drive a Huracan STO, the fastest, baddest, most expensivest one of the lot, and who am I to say no. 

STOhmygod 

Lamborghinis have always had a flair for the dramatic and a knack for turning every drive into an occasion. The STO is no different. STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologato, a fancy sounding Italian term that basically means this is a racecar for the road, and dios mio does it look the part.

It stands just 1.2 metres tall and has every manner of aerodynamic flicks, wings, and diveplanes adorning the already sharp body.

The front end has been updated to now feature a one-piece carbon fibre clamshell dubbed the Cofango (translates literally to hood but everything sounds cooler in Italian). There is actually storage space under the cofango but it's so small it's basically negligible. 

What is significant instead is the role the front plays in the aerodynamics of the STO. The vents in the hood extract hot air out from the radiators and the louvres in the wheel arches allow turbulent air to exit the wheelwells. Lambo says the STO has 53 per cent improvement in downforce figures over the already rapid Huracan Performante. 

Equally as crucial to the STO's crazy downforce is its ginormous double-deck fixed rear wing. Gone is the ALA system seen in the Performante, replaced instead by one whacking great one which may be slightly less elegant but undeniably way more exciting to look at. 

The theatre continues on the inside too. Opening the feather-light doors reveal a sea of alcantara and carbon fibre draping over the interior. There are airplane style toggle switches in the centre console and a bright red cover over the starter button. 

Push the red button

Lift the flap and press the start button Top-Gun-style and the V10 heart of the bull growls into life, a rumble through the cabin making it an all-encompassing affair. It's hard to do anything subtly in the STO, the exhaust is unabashedly loud and the car's looks are louder still. 

Especially in the Grigio Telesto paintwork our car came in, people of all ages crane their necks to get a second glance because it looks like the Batmobile and goes like a bat out of hell too.

That glorious V10 is good for 631hp and 565Nm of torque, all of which are fired into the tarmac through the rear wheels only. 0-100 is dealt with in just three seconds and flat out it'll do 310km/h. 

But this is a racecar for the road, and racetracks tend to have more than just straightaways. In my limited testing, I found the STO to handle rather interestingly, it was way floatier at the front end when unloaded than I expected.

I suspect that at higher speeds and therefore higher downforce levels, this sensation may be alleviated thanks to the added load on the nose. Unfortunately, I will not be able to say for certain until I do get to try one on a proper track (please, Lamborghini).

What I can say for sure is that when there is some weight transferred to the nose, the turn in is so insanely quick and spectacularly direct, almost unnaturally so, helped of course by the STO having rear-wheel steering on top of being rear-wheel drive.

Trail braking gives incredible response when turning into a corner with the light but communicative steering giving me all the feedback I need to keep carving through the bends. 

Eventually you will come to a corner where you will need to bleed off speed, although it's more a haemorrhage in the STO's case.

Behind the centre-lock rims are Brembo's giant, F1-derived carbon ceramic discs that when combined with the bespoke Bridgestone Potenza Sport tyres, give the STO nearly enough stopping power to slow the Earth's rotation. 

Ow my back

The downside of course of having all of this performance is that normal driving is significantly less comfortable.

The seats are not unlike the wooden sofas my grandma used to have and the brilliant chassis that lets me know exactly when and how I'm going to lose grip also lets me know exactly where and when I've run over an amoeba on the road. 

At 1.8-metres, I'm also slightly too tall for the car, I found myself having to hunch over at times just to see out of it which gave me a hurty back, achey shoulders, and a stiffy (neck) after just a couple of hours. 

But nobody buys one of these thinking it's going to feel like a Bentley. People buy these because they want to feel like Batman. This is not a car for introverts, Lamborghinis make sure that everyone else around you knows they're in the presence of a Lamborghini.

While there are those who would sneer and mock and call it overcompensation, there are yet many more who know and love the brand.

Joy to the world

Some might say buying a car like this is obnoxious and anti-social, but I believe driving a supercar, especially one as coveted as the STO, is one of the most social activities of all. So to test my theory, the Motorist team decided to bring the STO to my alma mater, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and see what the youth thought of it. 

We announced our presence through a TikTok Live, inviting people to come on down, have a look at the car, and chat with us about it. Within a few minutes, we had students coming from across the school just to get an up close look at one of Bologna's finest. 

It was a lovely experience to see how much joy we were bringing to these kids, knowing that I used to be just like them. It would've just felt selfish to keep this experience to myself. Cars can inspire lots of emotions in people, for example, a Volvo can give people a sense of safety and security.

But there is an unbridled, childlike joy that only a Lamborghini can bring. And it's an emotion not limited to the drivers, people all around the car feel it too.

I know because the glee I felt as a child who happened upon a Lamborghini in the flesh was the exact same as when I drove a Lamborghini over a decade later. 

I will go the rest of my life content in the knowledge that once upon a time, I was fortunate enough to experience the raging 8,500rpm symphony of oil and fire for myself. Happy 10 years to the Huracan and glory be to Lamborghini, realiser of dreams. 

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This article was first published in Motorist.