sSometimes, it’s not as easy to put into words the driving experience as you think. Some provocative adjectives cannot capture what has just happened. This is what happens when the car you’re controlling is a Lamborghini Huracan STO, the fire-breathing Italian Bull that chews on the tarmac. STO stands for ‘Super Trofeo Omologato’ – a racing version of the homologated Huracan supercar for road use.
But it’s not like any other Huracan before, and a little touch on it makes this fact go away – whether it’s the ‘shark fin’ on the engine cover that streamlines airflow; Small vents and louvers around the car that stick it to the ground; Or supersize tyres: While there appears to be a thin veneer of rubber painted on the lighter wheels, the tires are wider than the hatchback tires put together. And then, the carbon brakes that can stop this car from topping 200 kmph in a space of a few metres.
So what’s it like to drive? Well, what do you expect me to say here? The answer is downright scary. The fourth turn on the Buddh International Circuit is a sharp right-hand turn, which follows the back straight, where the car has reached peak speed: here, I had accelerated to about 290 kmph. That is not a typo. Typically, when driving most other cars, you’re not only not going that fast, you’ll start braking much earlier. At STO, the longer you try to brake, the longer you try to brake.
Unlike some of my friends who are defense journalists, I haven’t ridden on a fighter jet, but in the space of a hundred meters, the Huracan STO gives you a small idea of what sudden g-forces can be.
First, braking. That’s when all your internal organs hit your abdominal muscles, and you’re still able to make a sharp right turn at triple-digit speed—something that shouldn’t be possible, by authority, or by physics. But with bigger tires sticking to the surface with a vice-like grip, such things become possible when you bleed at the slightest speed. Now, I realize my limits as a driver, and know I can’t completely push STOs. But I’ve never felt that way with any other car.
It all ended six months ago. And I am bringing this experience right now because of my recent meeting with Sharad Agarwal, Head of Lamborghini India.
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lamborghini, luxury
Agarwal was a swinger to launch the latest version of the Huracan supercar, the Huracan Tecnica, the second-to-last pure petrol iteration of this sleek machine, in Delhi. Lamborghini sold 69 cars in India in 2021. To put this in perspective, Tecnica launched last week has a list price of Rs 4.04 crore. Once you add insurance and registration, it will cost around 4.5 crores. This is the price of a three bedroom apartment in a decent locality of Delhi-NCR.
And that price is well ahead of anyone’s idea that every Lamborghini buyer can customize their own car. A custom paint job, for example, will return another few lacquers if a bright orange or yellow doesn’t get you enough eyeballs. Monogrammed seat-covers, special seat-belts or even vegan leather seat covers and what not. The average Lamborghini, which is the Urus, where the ‘sports’ part of the ‘sports utility vehicle’ comes to the fore, will set one upwards of Rs 3 crore. That’s not a chump change. However, you get a 1:18 exact replica scale model of the car you’re buying, complete with monogrammed seat covers if you chose them.
India is the only major market in the world where Lamborghini beats its Italian supercar rival Ferrari and Agarwal is particularly proud of the community he has managed to build. Last year, in a road trip organized by the company, over 50 Lamborghinis walked from Delhi to the Wildflower Hall in Mashobra, speed tickets be damned. “Nobody buys a car like this to keep in the garage, they have to be used,” says Agarwal.
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Supercells of Supercars
But the question is, why have the sales of such expensive supercars in India more than doubled in the last few years? Pre-pandemic, Lamborghini sold around 40 cars a year in India, and other rivals barely had a presence in the country. Days before Lamborghini launched the Huracan Technica, it was announced that the Formula 1 team-born supercar maker of the same name, McLaren, had appointed its first official dealership in India. Even the likes of Mercedes-Benz India have seen sales of its ‘AMG’ brand performance-tuned cars double in the past one year, with some of the latest models of the AMG GT-R, which are priced around Rs 5 crore. , has been selected. by buyers in India. Did the pandemic change the top-end of the Indian car market? Or is there something about the Indian economy that we are all missing?
“I think it’s a bit of a post-pandemic ‘You Only Live Once’ or YOLO syndrome. I think the pandemic taught people about the fragility of life, and how to buy the car of their dreams for buyers in India. Didn’t want to wait any more,” said Agarwal. Well, it is true of the entire automotive market in India where people are waiting for more than a year for their cars. But it is in this rarefied environment of supercars. This is especially true where manufacturers cannot cope with the growth in Indian demand.
Certainly, the demand for these cars in India, a country where urban roads are a nightmare and where cows lie down carelessly in the middle of high-speed expressways, is a head-scratcher. In a recent meme that is going viral on social media, a Lamborghini Huracan is seen being trapped behind a buffalo, which seems to be from Delhi.
But, it is impossible not to appreciate the engineering and design behind these machines, and as we move towards electric cars, even electric supercars. Will be sad to see IC locomotives go.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Choubey)