Lamborghini Huracan STO 2023 Review

We’re firmly in “if you have to ask…” territory here. The 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO starts at $607,920 plus on-road costs – and ‘starts’ is the operative word.

Thanks to Lamborghini’s extensive personalisation program, the sky is the limit on options spending and this test car sits at $879,760 plus on-road costs. Best budget a million bucks just to make sure.

It’s not an isolated case, either. There are five Huracan STOs for sale on carsales as I write this, sitting between $795,000-$799,990.

Where does this money go? The sparkly orange paint accounts for $36,040, the full exterior carbon pack another $40,430 and a trio of painted livery packs almost $80,000. But $1710 for cruise control, $3920 for a rear-view camera and $6620 for Apple CarPlay stand out as items that could possibly be included as standard.

The most obvious competitor is the forthcoming Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which is similarly track-focused, but Huracan STO buyers may also have their gaze averted by the Maserati MC20, McLaren 750S and Ferrari 296 GTB.

Typically, this section talks about various interior features but the ‘STO’ in 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO stands for Super Trofeo Omologato; basically, the STO is a road-going version of the Huracan Super Trofeo EVO racing car that plies its trade on circuits all over the world.

As such, the mechanical make-up garnered the bulk of the development time and attention. Aerodynamics were a key focus, the STO producing 420kg of downforce at 280km/h, which is a lot for a road car, though the new 911 GT3 RS (860kg at 285km/h) has rather rewritten the rulebook on this.

Nevertheless, a key part of the aero is what Lamborghini calls the ‘cofango’, the whole front-end opening as one giant clamshell, allowing numerous wings and slots to move the ingested air over, under or around the car to where it can be of most benefit. It’s also a neat nod to the Miura.

This is just the start. There’s a new rear guard design that reduces frontal area and incorporates a NACA duct to feed the engine fresh air, a roof-mounted snorkel to regulate engine temperatures, a shark fin to aid lateral stability and giant adjustable rear wing.

The upshot is a 53 per cent increase in downforce over the Huracan Performante.

Carbon-fibre accounts for 75 per cent of the body panels, which along with magnesium wheels and a lighter windscreen save 43kg compared to said Performante, though deleting the front drive system accounts for 20kg of this, but more on that later.

Lamborghini hasn’t neglected the mechanical side of the grip equation, though, with magnetorheological adaptive dampers, all-wheel steering, track-spec Bridgestone tyres and giant Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes (390mm discs and six piston callipers front; 360mm discs and four-piston callipers rear).

Wider tracks and bespoke suspension settings feature for improved response and greater grip, and it’s notable that the STO forgoes Lamborghini’s fancy variable steering for a fixed-ratio set-up.

It won’t surprise you to learn that there is no official safety rating for the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO, though it does have front, side and knee airbags.

Active driver aids are conspicuous by their absence, though it’s worth spending the extra for the rear-view camera as there’s no rear window, so vision is compromised to say the least.

Most of the technology contained within the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO is to do with its mechanicals, like the ‘sandwich-style’ carbon-fibre taken from the aerospace industry, which allows 25 per cent less material to be used without any loss of structural rigidity.

Then there’s the CCM-R brakes that use F1 materials to provide four times the resistance to thermal degradation compared to ‘regular’ carbon-ceramic brakes, brake temperature monitoring, a telemetry system and the ‘Pioggia’ (wet) drive mode.

More typically, there is a fully digital dash featuring a giant rainbow-shaped tachometer when the Trofeo drive mode is selected and the portrait-style infotainment system has digital radio.

But, as mentioned earlier, a significant extra spend is required if you want smartphone mirroring.

When all personal transport is electric and they make an Internal Combustion Hall of Fame, the 5.2-litre naturally-aspirated V10 nestled in the middle of the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO is guaranteed to have its own section.

Here in its ultimate configuration, it provides 470kW at 8000rpm and 565Nm at 6500rpm, driving the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

The acceleration claims are eye-opening: 0-100km/h in 3.0sec, 0-200km/h in 9.0sec and a 310km/h top speed.

Hahaha. Good one. It might be relatively lightweight with a naturally-aspirated engine but the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO drinks like it’s been lost in the desert for a week.

With a very gentle foot on the highway you might dip into the 11L/100km region – it can even shut off one cylinder bank while cruising – but under typical use you’ll be well north of 20L/100km.

Thankfully, the 80-litre tank means range is still reasonable, unlike a McLaren 720S, for instance.

It’s very simple. The 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO is one of the best Lamborghinis ever produced and one of the finest and most exhilarating supercars you can buy.

It’s a high-water mark in the same vein as the Ferrari 458 Speciale, a car where everything coalesces into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

The downside is that driving the STO is exhausting – after a day at the wheel I was shattered. It’s the noise, the forces, the concentration required piloting a million-dollar car at speed, but it’s mostly the fact that you feel completely plugged into the machine like Neo in The Matrix.

Let’s start with the engine. Despite a rev ceiling of more than 8000rpm, the V10 feels so smooth and unstressed that it’s easy to hit the limiter, though doing so raises a smile as it sounds like you’re tearing down the straight at Monza.

It’s obviously preposterously fast but also manageably fast. It doesn’t accelerate so rapidly as to scare the pants off you – thank you, progressive naturally-aspirated power delivery – and unlike some of its newer turbo or hybrid competitors, full throttle is achievable for more than a nanosecond before speed limits intervene.

The seven-speed dual-clutch is the perfect partner. Its low-speed behaviour is very good and the changes are lighting-quick when required. The down-changes might be overly theatrical but you are guaranteed to stick it in manual mode approaching every set of lights, just to hear the wham-wham-wham with each paddle pull.

Where the STO differentiates itself from every other Huracan is in the communication it provides. Deleting the front driveshafts and Lamborghini’s active steering system means there is no corruption in the messages reaching the steering wheel from the front tyres.

You need all the help you can get as driving the STO quickly requires focus. It’s not difficult to drive in the sense of being unwieldy or intimidating, but everything happens so immediately.

Even at three-figure speeds a firm press on the brake pedal almost brings the car to a complete halt – these are some of the best brakes I’ve ever experienced on a road car.

Likewise, the steering is incredibly direct, responding instantly to the slightest movement off centre. This is helpful as the car goes exactly where you point it, but you’d best be sure your input is the right one. The weighting doesn’t really change under load so you need to be very precise.

Grip levels are phenomenal, with cornering speeds way, way beyond what’s possible or prudent on a public road. But what stands out about the STO is its agility. It feels light, lighter than its circa-1500kg kerb weight suggests.

Trofeo mode stiffens the suspension to the point of prioritising the car’s composure over your internal organs but also helpfully backs off the stability control. It’s understandably extremely conservative in the default STO mode, but selecting this does make the suspension more liveable; sadly, there’s no individual EGO mode like in the Urus and Aventador to mix ’n’ match settings.

If there’s an opposite of a sensory deprivation chamber then the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO is it.

It’s loud, the lack of sound deadening exposing plenty of road and mechanical noise into the cabin, there’s little in the way of creature comforts – though this test car featured electrically-adjustable heated seats – and there’s the stress of not being able to see out the back of it.

The rear-view mirror is full of roll cage and engine cover and there’s no blind spot monitoring, so lane changes aren’t exactly the most relaxing process. At least other motorists can’t claim they didn’t notice it.

On the plus side, the masses of exposed carbon are a constant reminder of the STO’s exotic and focused nature.

On a more fundamental level, the Huracan STO is pretty good. The driving position is widely adjustable, having all the controls on the steering wheel takes a little getting used to but quickly becomes second nature and the infotainment works fairly well.

Like many cars, the lack of physical buttons means the climate controls have migrated into the touch-screen, which isn’t hugely helpful. But it’s quite easy to navigate and portrait Apple CarPlay is always nice, the orientation aligning with that of the iPhone itself.

It’s easy to sum up the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO in one word: special.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking at it or sitting in it or driving in traffic or thrashing around a racetrack – its styling, noise but, most of all, its driving experience is utterly intoxicating.

Other supercars might be more powerful or quicker in a straight line or faster around a track or feature more technology. But few, if any, will appeal more to the inner 10-year-old car enthusiast and that’s what supercars – particularly those with a Lamborghini badge – are all about.

The good news is the Huracan STO isn’t a limited production model per se, but Lamborghini can only build so many and it’s been on sale for a while now, so if you’ve been considering taking the plunge, do it. Do it now.

2023 Lamborghini Huracan STO at a glance:
Price: $607,920 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 5.2-litre V10 petrol
Output: 470kW/565Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 13.9L/100km (WLTP)
CO2: 331g/km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested