Lamborghini Huracan STO arrives in Oz for demanding customers

The Lamborghini Huracan STO has arrived in Australia for customer previews

The Lamborghini Huracan STO is a race car for the road. And that means it appeals to a very specific customer – one that demands the very best in performance.

The newest addition to the Rampaging Bull’s line-up has touched down in Australia, with the official reveal of a left-hand drive model in Sydney this week as part of an early preview for customers ahead of deliveries beginning later this year.

The STO fills a gap in the Huracan line-up, squeezing between the track-only GT3 racer and the hardcore Performante. It’s fitted with the same 5.2-litre V10 as the rest of the Huracan range, tuned to make 470kW of power and 565Nm of torque but sends its power to the rear-wheels only (unlike the all-wheel drive Huracan Evo) just like the GT3.

Speaking to Australian media, Lamborghini Asia-Pacific boss Francesco Scardaoni said the STO (which stands for Super Trofeo Omologata) is designed to appeal to a very specific customer, those who want a track-focused road car. Lamborghini isn’t alone in offering these circuit-ready road cars, with most major supercar brands including Ferrari and Porsche blurring the lines between road car and racer.

“It’s an expanding market,” Scardaoni said.

“We wanted to bring the feeling, the emotion, our drivers feel on the racetrack to a street legal car.”

REVIEW: Lamborghini Huracan Evo

Lamborghini has taken a number of lessons learnt from its three-time GTD-class Daytona 24-hour winning Huracan GT3 and applied it to the STO. The most obvious is the aerodynamic package, that includes an entirely new clamshell bonnet and adjustable rear wing. Other major changes compared to the Performante are the extensive use of carbon fibre, Lamborghini claims up to 75 per cent of the bodywork is made of the lightweight material. All told the STO weighs 45kg less than the Performante.

The success of the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 at Daytona has inspired the STO

“Racing is where we can develop the best solutions, for the engine, the aerodynamics… and customers want to benefit from these solutions,” Scardaoni added.

In a direct comparison Lamborghini sent its three fastest Huracan models around the Daytona circuit. The race-spec GT3 managed a 1:43.4s lap time, the STO was only slightly slower with a 1:48.8s with the Performante taking 1:51.1s.

Lamborghini revealed most of the initial 2021 allocation for Australian STOs is almost gone, even before the first car hit the country, so it seems there are plenty of locals who want to live out their fantasy of being a Lamborghini racing driver.