Raging temptation

Practical test: Lamborghini Huracán STO - Raging temptation

There are cars that simply don't care what color they are because they cause a stir everywhere. These are usually small-series manufacturers with their spectacular cars, the odd racetrack model from Ferrari or this very special Lamborghini Huracan. As if this wild two-seater with racetrack qualities wasn't already spectacular enough, the STO version puts a wildly flashing crown on it. It doesn't matter that this version is presented in an almost innocent white, because the design details and blue bodywork elements make this racing car for the road look almost shameless. Anyone still wanting a Huracan or even dreaming of the racing version of the STO will have to come up with something. Production of the sports car from Santa Agata is sold out and the factory and dealers are slowly preparing for its successor. It is set to celebrate its premiere in the first half of 2024 and roll out at the end of the year. Until then, we can just dream about the STO.

Of course, the Lamborghini Huracan, which is just 1.22 meters flat, is a racing machine, especially as a re-sharpened STO, a weapon that packs a punch. In addition to the impressive basic package of the Huracan, this is due to the noticeable influence of the sports car manufacturer's racing department, as this is what made the Huracan the STO in the first place. STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologata. This means as little to Americans as it does to most car fans in our part of the world, but it sounds good and means that this car has nothing to fear from comparison on the racetrack. It is surprising how many people recognize the Huracan STO as such in Californian traffic. It could have been a coincidence at the petrol station in Monterey, but even in car-crazy Pebble Beach, cameras or smartphones are pulled out on every street corner and even on the spectacular 17-Miles-Drive, the spectacular stone and dune formations are suddenly only of marginal interest. When car fans ask at traffic lights in San Francisco or near Oakland in a Walgreens parking lot if they can take photos of the white flounder, the whole thing becomes quite strange. A car-crazy couple is about to take a picture of the perfectly contoured sports chairs and the starter button. It is located in the center console under a red flap. Okay - the experts are probably at work here.

You will hardly ever see the sportiest of all Huracan models on the road. Many models are parked in collections; others may make a detour to the Gentlemen Drive Event in Spa or Laguna Seca. To outdo all others here, the flounder offers rear-wheel drive, with less than 1.4 tons significantly less weight than the impressively dynamic Huracan Performante and an aerodynamic package that takes your breath away even when stationary. On the road, the mid-engined sports car presents itself as an incredible driving machine with razor-sharp steering that redefines steering behavior and a driving precision that is hard to find anywhere else. Agility and traction are equally enchanting when accelerating hard. The noticeable loss of suspension comfort hurts on the occasionally bumpy highways around San Francisco and as you head north from Oakland to the warmer climes of America's number one wine-growing region. After long stretches of highway, the small, winding roads of the Napa Valley become an ideal setting to celebrate the dynamics of the northern Italian with the charismatic naturally aspirated V10 engine.

The fact that the 4.55 meter long body is largely made of carbon fiber, details such as the windscreen have been slimmed down and a carbon hood covers the 470 kW / 640 hp naturally aspirated engine instead of a rear window is all part of this unique feeling on the road. The power-to-weight ratio is just over two kilograms per horsepower. If that doesn't mean much to you, just give it a try when the Huracan STO, which costs just under 300,000 euros, balls up the next set of winding hills, the ten-cylinder engine starts to roar above 6,000 rpm and you have to be afraid that the grapes will come off the vines from fear and sonic vibrations. The absolute speeds are less impressive than expected and the driver does not have to worry about the position of the manually adjustable rear wing. Downforce is not an issue and you get used to the handling of the racer with its 41:59 weight distribution surprisingly quickly. If you want to, you can push the STO over the 100 km/h mark in three seconds from a standing start and let it reach speeds of up to 310 km/h in the wild. This makes it significantly slower than other Huracan versions, which scratch the 330 km/h mark. However, the Lamborghini Huracan STO is designed for the race track, where top speed is of less importance. Simply magnificent: the high-performance brakes, which never reach their limits either in everyday use or on the racetrack and compete with the steering in an internal race for the best individual category.

No need to think about changing the driving modes on the grippy leather steering wheel, as the basic mode called STO is normally ideal. The sharper driving programs are reserved for closed-off tracks and racetracks, where things get hotter. What works well on the straight stretches and highways reaches its limits here north of the ever-cool Bay Arena. The STO likes to select too high a gear in the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. This works better in manual mode or you can opt for the Trofeo driving program, which is also reflected in the digital instrument. After all this time in the Huracan, the instruments are probably the only thing that is getting on in years, as the information in the cluster behind the wheel is confusing and the touchscreen on the center console is also not state-of-the-art.

However, this hardly bothers anyone on the way back south at a warm 25 degrees Celsius, as the radio sounds - albeit somewhat tinny. The acoustic delight is the ten-cylinder engine anyway, which howls again and again when the white flounder pushes into a small gap, while powerful full-size pick-ups roll past next door and cell phone cameras are already clicking again. Incidentally, those pick-ups also have it a little easier with their luggage, because the STO has almost no such compartment, as the tiny compartment under the hood holds less than 40 liters and is therefore more suitable as a generous but somewhat impractical glove compartment.