[Auto-Moto] Lamborghini Huracán STO test: the beating heart - VIDEO

[#Hassan.]

In a final evolution, the Italian supercar pays tribute to its sisters trackers, Super Trofeo and GT3. At the twilight of his career, his heart was beating faster than ever. And ours too.

Vallelunga circuit, a (beautiful) summer day. Right behind the backs of the seats, the atmospheric V10 screams deathly as it spreads its electrifying vibrations throughout the cabin. The digital counter goes wild more frantically than the reels of a Vegas slot machine.

On the horizon, the threat of the immense curves through which each lap of the track begins is more and more urgent. In a stifling dampness, a few drops of rain bead on the windshield, as if to add a little oil to the fire. The Alcantara struggles to absorb the sweat from the hands. A brief slap on the brake pedal, a flick of the left paddle and the engine barks fiercely.

A glance at the instrumentation which still displays nearly 200 km / h… Too late to worry about it. A tiny oscillation of the steering wheel to the right and the Huracán STO descends towards the rope of a turn slightly raised like a tightrope walker; on the edge of its overheated gums. Then ejects just before a powerful braking accompanied this time by a cascade of angry downshifts.

After an opening in apnea or almost, it is incredulity. Is this umpteenth evolution of Sant'Agata's supercar so much more powerful than its sisters already in the catalog? Not even. The Super Trofeo Omologata is “content” with 640 hp, like a more ordinary Huracán EVO. Is it lighter? Barely ; of 43 kg compared to the Performante version which it succeeds at the top of the range.

An anecdotal weight saving with regard to its body sculpted to 75% in carbon (only the roof and the doors remain faithful to the metal), its optional magnesium rims and especially the removal of the central differential and the transmission shafts before. Because this STO and its counterparts from the competition from which it is inspired have at least this point in common: they only have two rear-wheel drive.

This is finally one of the explanations for the incredible excitement that this Lamborghini provides. Getting involved with all your heart is more necessary than driving any other road Huracán, even if the endearing entry-level RWD, with a similar architecture, already replaced the human in the center of action.

That said, this higher requirement, linked to a relative technical purity, coincides with a greater naturalness of the reactions. Without being as incisive as that of a contemporary Ferrari, nor offering the rail guidance of a McLaren 720S or a Porsche 992 GT3 , the front axle responds more immediately to the slightest variation in the angle of the steering wheel.

Contrary to the habits of the mark, the direction is limited to a fixed gear ratio for more instinctive changes of course. Like the brake pedal, a little light, it lacks more than an additional consistency to make the approach phases even more obvious, although this is possibly a matter of taste.

Better, in favor of agility as a great thrill, the rear clearly takes precedence over the general balance . Even more after selecting Trofeo, the most extreme of the three driving modes, which freezes the magnetic piloted damping and rolls back ESP interventions, among other things.

Gone is the idea of helping the car to turn thanks to movable shutters as on the Performante. The STO prefers a more conventional aerodynamics, made of a fixed rear spoiler, adjustable in three positions, working in concert with a muzzle cut in one and the same piece, from the splitter to the wings, to generate up to 420 kg of support at 280 km / h.

If this “Lambo” winds the sinuosities of the Roman layout, pivoting delicately on itself, on the border between supreme grip and glide, it is rather thanks to the combined effects of its four steered wheels, its mechanical self-locking differential. and the torque transfer function of the traction control.

And therefore more or less directly under the impetus of the V10. Using a robotic gearbox capable of eliminating load breaks between each of its 7 gears, the chassis and the engine become one when it comes to making the final adjustments to the trajectory.

In the absence of overfeeding, this block of anthology allows a dosage of gas to the horse near in a wildly metallic symphony. The accelerator thus acts as a second flywheel while the Akrapovič exhausts switch from one tone to another without interruption according to each movement of the right foot.

Fans of perfectly executed scores can afterwards look at the on- board telemetry system to eradicate the last false notes and scavenge the last tenths per lap. His readings do not lie, no approximation of piloting is passed over in silence. There is therefore no need to pretend that the car is weak.

Despite an asphalt heated to nearly 60 °, tires and brakes, traditional martyrs of track sessions, also show an insolent consistency. A brief passage through the pit lane every five or six loops is enough for the Bridgestone Potenza Race semi-slicks and the CCM-R carbon-ceramic discs from Brembo to regain their freshness on the first lap. This is not necessarily the case of the simple mortal driving. Sensitive heart refrain.

Our verdict
Without being able to claim the status of a racing car, the radical STO is the best of the Huracans and makes the world afterwards all the more fearful; that of electricity.

link :

https://www.auto-moto.com/essais/lamborghini-huracan-sto-battements-de-choeur-282901.html#item=1