Engine
5204cc, V10,
turbo, petrol
Power
630bhp @ 8,000rpm
Torque
416 lb ft @ 6,500rpm
Acceleration
0-62mph: 3.0sec
Top speed
193mphFuel / CO 2
16.9mpg / 331g/km
Weight
1,339kg
Price
£260,012
Release date
On sale now
Jeremy’s ratingThe Clarksometer
Lamborghini Huracán STO
1,220mm2,236mm 4,547mmcan soften a potato faster than
an Aga but the end result is not
even remotely satisfying. Speed
is wonderful, let’s be in no doubt
about that. But it needs to be
accompanied by something else as
well. Dinosaur noises. Sounds that
vibrate your limbic system. So you
have a sense that you’re doing
something exciting. And that’s
what you get from the Lambo.
We are told the STO is a racing
car for the road but don’t be fooled,
it’s not. Sure, they’ve removed
the front driveshafts to make it
rear-drive only, but this saves only
20kg, and then they’ve added
rear-wheel steering so nearly half
of that weight loss is sacrificed.
Then you have the roof-mounted
air intake that doesn’t actually
feed the engine with air.
This is the Lambo way. They
make cars that are exciting and
frightening. Cars that work best
as posters on a small boy’s wall.
Ferrari will sell you a finely honed
scalpel. Whereas Lamborghini will
sell you a lime-green pile-driver.
Power? Well, the 5.2-litre
engine produces 631 horsepowers,
which is a lot for sure, but in the
rarefied world of supercars these
days it’s nothing to write home
about. I mean, it takes a full three
seconds to get from 0-62mph. But
it doesn’t matter because it’s a V10.
The last V10 still in production
and, like all V10s, it’s a masterpiece.
The noise is horror-film scary.
And loud like you wouldn’t
believe. Volcanically loud. And
then you go past 4,700rpm and
your ears are begging for mercy
and then some valves open and
it gets louder still. It’s the sound
of an engine that’s inherently
unbalanced and completely
unhinged, and it’s like it’s playing
its tune through the Grateful
Dead’s 29,000-watt Cow Palace
speaker stack. Had I chosen to
race that man in his Tesla, he
you’re in a darkened room with a
lion that’s cross about something.
Purists will always argue that
Ferrari makes a better car and this
is probably true. If you are Lewis
Hamilton or Max Verstappen,
you really can take a supercar
round a track at such a speed that
tiny differences start to make
themselves felt. However, if you
are not Lewis or Max, you won’t
be able to do that. You just want
a Ferrari because it’s a Ferrari and
that’s fine. They’re extremely
well-engineered cars and you can
talk in the pub about how you
can sense the valve actuation and
the tread shuffle and all the other
things that actually you can’t sense
at all. Because you’re an accountant.
That’s where the Lamborghini
STO comes in. Yes, it has a wider
track than the already sensational
Hurracán Performante on which
it’s based, and Brembo CCM-R
brakes and two-stage magnetic
ride dampers. It has the tech
arsenal required for it to talk the
talk and the soundtrack to suggest
it can walk the walk, but in my
experience Lambos always fall
apart a bit if you go to a track and
take their trousers down.
This doesn’t matter, though,
because Lambos are bought by
people like Rod Stewart and Kim
Kardashian and Pierce Brosnan,
and me. They’re bought by people
who like the looks and the noise
and the sheer fun of the things.
Sure, a Tesla is faster off the
lights, but people don’t do that any
more unless they feel they have
something to prove, which Tesla
people invariably have. However,
why don’t you trying pulling up
outside Monaco’s Hôtel de Paris
in your electric tool and see how
quickly the flunkies come out to
open your door. Then try the
same thing in an STO.
Actually, don’t. Best to get out
of it when no one’s looking nPricePower0-62mphTop speedHead to
head
Lamborghini Huracán
STO v Ferrari F8 Tributo£260,012630bhp£203,590710bhp3.0sec 2.9sec193mph 212mphwould have soiled himself by the
time I’d covered a hundred yards.
I loved this car very much.
I loved the simple, carpetless
interior, the completely
unfathomable dashboard, the Audi
sat nav system and the Fox three
missiles-away starter button. I also
liked the way that when you aren’t
in the mood it will settle down to
become something not that far
removed from civilised.
There were two things I didn’t
like. Getting in. And getting out.
When you’re my height (and girth)
these are not things you can do
with any dignity. The STO is like
an Italian suit. It simply isn’t
tailored to fit the larger gentleman.
Then there’s Lamborghini’s
idiotic decision to copy Ferrari and
put all the main controls on the
steering wheel. You try dipping
your lights while cancelling the
indicators. It can’t be done and
it especially can’t be done when
you’ve got a cricked neck from
trying to get in and it feels like