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Lamborghini Huracan STO

A hurricane is one of the most destructive forces on the planet. A category one hurricane has wind speeds of between 119km/h to 153km/h, while a category five has sustained wind speeds of above 253km/h.

So when a car maker introduces a car called Huracan (Spanish for hurricane), you know that it means business.

The Lamborghini Huracan is already one of the wildest cars on the planet in terms of design and performance. But it’s not entirely new either, in fact the Huracan has been around since 2014.

Since then, a number of iterations have been introduced, each promising to be faster, meaner and more exotic than the last.

But nothing can be better than a Huracan that is designed to be raced. The Huracan GT3 EVO is one of the most successful race cars in the Lamborghini stable.

It has won the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and even the Blancpain GT Series Asia, among many other race series around the world.

But the problem with the Huracan GT3 is that it is a proper race car, which means regular rich folks can’t buy one to drive on the road.

But Lamborghini is one of the most successful supercar company’s in the history of the automobile, so it wasn’t about to sit around and not allow its customers to experience one of the best race cars it has ever built.

Enter the Lamborghini Huracan STO – the fastest street legal Huracan ever made!

STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologata, which simply means that the STO is a road-legal homologated version of the Huracan Super Trofeo Evo and GT3 Evo race cars.

Simply put, the Huracan STO is a street legal reimagination of the GT3 race car. Lamborghini’s official website says the STO is “a super-sports car created with a singular purpose, the Huracan STO delivers all the feel and technology of a genuine race car in a road-legal model.”

The STO delivers a unique race car like driving experience from the moment you sit inside.

The regular two-point seat belts have been replaced with motorsport derived four-point harnesses that are similar to those used in the GT3 race car.

Since it’s a road-going car, Lamborghini has included creature comforts such as air-conditioning and even an audio system. The interior is covered in lightweight alcantara leather and carbon-fibre adorns everything from the floor to the roof and the door panels. Even the seats are constructed of lightweight material.

Adding to the race car feel is a titanium roll cage that protects the driver and passenger should the worse happen.

But at the heart of it all is a race-derived 5.2-litre, V10 naturally-aspirated engine. This is the same engine that powers the Lamborghini Huracan race cars. Lamborghini says the engine is nearly identical to the race engines and offers a direct pedal-to-throttle feel that is the same as a race car. Even the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox offers quicker gear shifts so that there is no loss of power during acceleration.

Lamborghini is one of the few car makers left that has not adopted forced induction. Naturally-aspirated engines rely on big cylinders or ultra high revs to create power, but these engines are also among the most responsive and provide the best engine note.

As for power, the STO puts out 640PS at 8,000rpm and 565Nm of torque at 6,500rpm. But because 75% of its body is made up of light weight carbon-fibre, the STO is capable of some astonishing performance figures, such as a zero to 200km/h acceleration time of just nine seconds flat! Top speed is rated at 310km/h.

Those in the know will probably think that these figures are not all that much. Cars like the Porsche GT2RS and even the discontinued Ferrari 488 make more power than the STO.

But the STO is not about pure power alone. It is about quick lap times and driving pleasure. For instance, Lamborghini pitted the STO against the Huracan GT3 EVO race car around a race track in America and found that the STO was just under two seconds slower than the race-only GT3 which was on race tyres while the STO was on road tyres. That is the ultimate proof of performance.

It also partly achieves this by using rear-wheel-steering. This turns the rear wheels in the same direction as the front wheels, giving it incredibly agility in slow and fast corners.

There are also other race derived technologies such as the the width of the car that is wider than the road car to give it better grip, a windscreen that is 20% lighter and suspension that is stiffer for more direct control of the car.

Part of the race experience that the STO offers is phenomenal braking performance. The Huracan STO boasts a new braking technology called CCM-R braking system. The system is provided by renowned braking experts Brembo using materials that is used in Formula One. The discs on the STO are said to provide four times higher thermal conductivity and 60% higher stress resistance. What this ultimately results in is strong braking performance that does not fade even after many laps.

One of the things that supercars tend to suffer from is brake fade, and that ultimate slows lap times because drivers have to brake earlier. But because the brakes on the STO have effectively solved this issue, this means you can drive at the knife’s edge of performance every single time and get the same braking performance.

The Huracan STO is undeniably one of the ultimate driver’s car in the modern world. It does not have that power figures owners can boast about, but it is a car that is appreciated when you drive it. The sound that it creates is one of pure emotion. You don’t only hear it in your ears but you feel it in your heart as well. And that what the STO is about, a pure unadulterated driving experience that overloads your senses and leaves you wanting more each time you drive it. There are very few cars left these days that are able to do that.

The Lamborghini Huracan STO is now available in Malaysia for RM1.48 million before taxes and customisation.

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