For most of its history, Italian sports carmaker Lamborghini preferred to design their supercars for the street, rather than making track monsters, but that notion has changed in the past few years. As they say, it's better late than never. Lamborghini is fully committing to the street-legal, track-focused supercar battle with their all-new Huracán STO, taking the fight to established rivals like the AMG Black Series, Porsche's RS models, McLaren long tails, and Ferrari's track specials like the Scuderia, Pista, and Speciale models.

Now that Lamborghini has specifically designed a car to excel on the racetrack, it's interesting to see how it would fare against its rivals and its fellow Sant'Agata stablemates. Especially since we've seen the Performante and the Aventador SVJ set blistering times around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife circuit. But with that said, there are a lot more interesting insights about this new supercar, and we're here to give you the 10 things you need to know about the Lamborghini Huracán STO.

10 STO

For those people wondering what STO means, it stands for Super Trofeo Omologata. Basically, the Lamborghini Huracán STO is the road-legal homologated version of the Huracan Super Trofeo Evo and GT3 Evo race cars used in international sports car racing, such as the GT World Challenge and the Blancpain GT Series.

It's the first-ever Lamborghini supercar designed to meet the specific demands of regular track use, and everything about this car is built to maximize track performance. There's extensive use of carbon fiber in its chassis and bodywork, while everything has been stripped down inside to the bare minimum, a bit like a modern-day F40.

RELATED : Lamborghini Reveals Huracan STO: A Homologation Special With 620 Horsepower

9 Engine

Lamborghini's North America CEO Andrea Baldi says that "the Huracán STO is a celebration of the internal combustion engine." The car might be one of the last few cars to come out of Sant'Agata with the awesome naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V10 engine.

The STO's tried and tested V10 produces 631 horsepower and is the same powerplant found in the Huracan Performante. However, it has been retuned to optimize response, having lower peak torque at 417 lb-ft. Lamborghini explains they traded off maximum torque for a broader and flatter torque curve, which is much more suited to racing.

RELATED : Lamborghini Huracán STO Spotted Testing On The Nürburgring

8 Drivetrain

Similar to its race car brothers, the GT3 Evo and the Super Trofeo Evo, the Huracan STO also sends all of its 631 horses to its 305 mm-wide rear tires, and has a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

As it's not restricted to any kinds of racing regulations, the Huracan STO has the advantage of having rear-axle steering and torque vectoring to assist the front wheels during cornering.

RELATED : Watch Lamborghini Huracán STOs Go Nuts On A Roman Track Test Drive

7 Performance Figures

As expected, the rear-wheel-drive Huracan STO is slower to 62 mph than the all-wheel-drive Performante, but there's hardly any difference at all, as the STO did it in 2.6 seconds, while the Performante did a ballistic 2.2 seconds. The car tops out at 193 mph.

However, it's in the corners where the STO would truly shine against the Performante, as it's 95 lbs lighter, has 25% more stopping power, and is 37% more aerodynamically efficient, with its static aero bits combined to produce 925 lbs of downforce at 174 mph.

6 Advanced Materials

More than 75% of the Huracan STO's body is made from carbon fiber, as it's the perfect material to maximize stiffness and minimize weight. Notably, the static rear wing was made with carbon "sandwich" formation technology, using 25% less material while maintaining the same structural rigidity.

The wheels are made from magnesium, and the windscreen is 20% lighter than that on the Performante. Furthermore, it's the first production car to have F1-derived carbon-ceramic resin matrix brakes made by Brembo, that are designed to prevent brake fade in long track stints.

5 Bespoke Track Tires

Bridgestone developed model-specific track tires for the Huracan STO, and comes in two track-oriented specifications. First is the custom-made Potenza Race semi-slick tires, which deliver excellent dry grip, long-lasting track performance and outstanding lap time ability.

Second is the standard supercar-spec Potenza Sport ultra-high performance tires that come with an asymmetrical tread pattern to enhance steering response and cornering stability, while maintaining precise control come rain or shine.

4 COFANGO

As mentioned earlier, Lamborghini went all-out to achieve maximum chassis stiffness and minimum weight in designing the Huracan STO, and that meant the entire front panel of the car has been turned into a single structure made of carbon-fiber.

Lamborghini calls it the "Cofango", a fusion of the Italian words "cofano" (hood) and "parafango" (fender), a design cue inspired from the Miura. The Cofango hinges forward and opens like a clamshell to reveal the tiny storage space in front of the car, that's only big enough to fit a crash helmet.

3 Dynamic Pit Stop

There are three selectable drive modes for the Huracan STO — the STO for street, Trofeo for track, and Pioggia for rain. It basically changes the settings of the suspension, engine, gearbox, rear steering and other systems that would alter the performance of the car.

Lamborghini thought of this as a dynamic pit stop, similar to what a team of mechanics does in a race weekend to make changes in the behavior of the car. However, in the Huracan STO's case, those changes can be made on the fly and do not require the driver to stop.

2 Telemetry System

For enthusiasts who like to work on their track skills and see measurable improvement in their lap times, the Lamborghini Huracán STO comes with a telemetry system. It connects the car's on-board cameras and its various input sensors to record driver inputs such as their braking, steering and throttle positions to analyze their performance.

All the data and videos are uploaded in the Lamborghini owners' exclusive UNICA app and can be accessed to view track times and improve their racing skills. Plus, there's the added benefit of sharing it to other STO owners for expert coaching, and for some bragging rights.

1 Price

Starting at a MSRP of $327,838 before taxes and delivery, the Lamborghini Huracán STO is indeed an expensive car, and it only goes uphill from there considering the range of options in customization.

However, if you have that kind of money lying around, there's no need to rush as well, as Lamborghini said that they are not limiting the number of STOs they'll be making. That is, at least until 2024, when they will be hybridizing the Huracán, and existing ICE models will be discontinued.