Lamborghini Huracán STO review
Driving
What is it like to drive?
This is a car without built in plushness. The whole car jiggles at low speeds, and diligently follows road cambers. The upside of this is communication. It’s not doing anything it’s not telling you about.
Instead it constantly reminds you of its potential, makes you aware of how much more it can do and – crucially – makes you really want to exploit that. The STO encourages you, goads you to want to find out where exactly the limits are. It’s not a car that feels disgruntled and unhappy on the road, so much as one eager to prove it could be having an even better time if only you’d open the taps.
How is that engine?
The stand out feature of the whole car. No, it doesn’t have the kidney punch mid-range torque and frankly scary top end of the 765LT, but it’s plenty potent enough and the way the revs climb through the mid-range and then howl across the final 4,000rpm of the dial makes you feel so connected.
The twin clutch gearbox is good enough (so much smoother and faster than the Aventador’s sequential) that you never really find yourself noticing it – it does the job cleanly and well. It’s the one element of the car that behaves itself immaculately at low speed, shuttling up the gears considerately and quietly.
Here’s something else that does its job very well – the mechanical differential. There’s a lot going on at the back axle what with the rear-steer as well, but the way the STO gets its power down is impressive. It’ll only squirm and fidget if the road is rough, but otherwise the suspension supports the traction very well.
It helps if you’re going fast, though. The STO needs some speed before the suspension wakes up and is interested in helping out, it needs that level of downforce or movement to get some compression into the springs. Perhaps oddly, as far as public roads go the STO is probably most comfortable and at home on motorways.
Don’t be misled by the ride height. Relatively speaking there’s quite a lot of ground clearance. Doesn’t mean the suspension is forgiving. Or the tyres. There are two options available: Bridgestone Potenza Sport or Race.
Are there driving modes?
Three, controlled via the familiar button at the base of the steering wheel. New names, though: STO, Trofeo and Pioggia. Read: Road, Race, Rain. Five parameters fall under the control of each setting: engine response, Akrapovic exhaust, gearbox, MagneRide 2.0 suspension and ESC.
Trofeo does noticeably ramp things up – not just red dials, but a more instant and angry engine and vividly sharp ride. STO is more than enough for road use. But then it should be. We admire the fact that Lambo has pushed the STO this far and chosen to compromise its road manners. The result is a car that moves the story beyond Lambo’s usual language.
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