Day 1: Regardless of familiarity, experience or even ownership, driving an exotic is the perpetual pinnacle of pistonhead excitement. When said exotic is the Lamborghini Huracan STO, one’s noodle truly bakes.
The naturally-aspirated, ten-cylinder engine that powers this beast generates 630 angry, Italian horsepower. Lighting its fire, via the jet-fighter-esque flip-switch, rewards with a cacophony of noise that only hints at the lunacy it can deliver.
That’s because the STO is peak Huracan. Three-quarters of this car’s body is made from carbon fibre. It forgoes the typical all-wheel-drive system, so only the twenty-inch hoops at the rear are powered. All of the creases, ducts and angles create a shape that generates more downforce while also being more aerodynamic. The suspension is a two-stage MagneRide system and the brakes are track-ready bits with rotors 1.5-times the size of an average dinner plate. Hell, the STO may even be peak Lambo.
With the “Trofeo” drive mode chosen, the STO’s silicon brain figures I’m rolling out of the pit lane. Sadly, that just isn’t the case. Mississauga’s city streets won’t permit the indulgences I’d like to explore but I’ll be damned if I won’t at least let it rouse a little attention.
The 5.2L engine sits beneath a louvered bit of carbon fibre that sports a shark fin, requires a special quick-release key to unlock and needs two people to hoist it up and away. You don’t need the extra hands because it’s heavy or unwieldy. No, you want them there so you don’t ding its corners on anything during the process. Oh, and you’ll also want a soft spot to set it down. More importantly though, that beautiful, fragile cover doesn’t muffle volume.
The sound this car makes may be worth the near half-million-dollar ask alone. Yes, that statement sounds as stupid in my head as it no doubt does in yours. But I’ve been bathed in the sonic soup this thing creates at full blat, and man, that baptismal is a life changing experience.
Everything about this car comes alive when the digital tach needle sweeps past five-thou. Accelerative force from those pistons combine with sonic thrust from the tailpipes to loudly and furiously teleport the STO from point to point.
Amazingly, it also does this with little to no drain on your ability to enjoy the show. So well sorted is the chassis, so sticky the rubber, so smooth the suspension, that driving the STO at speed is almost, well, almost too easy.
Typically, us spoiled scribes can score a couple of days alone with the whips we write about. With the Huracan STO, I was given an hour. And, as mentioned, that hour wasn’t on the track. Regardless, even while meandering the stifled streets on a truncated timeline, I can confirm that the Lamborghini Huracan STO is a road-legal race car.