Is Lamborghini testing a detuned Huracan STO?

We’ve come across an interesting article on motor1.com, and this time it’s not about the upcoming Urus facelift or the Urus Sportivo version, nor about the raised suspension Huracán Sterrato, this time it talks about another V10 derivative, which according to motor1.com is more of a tamer version of the radical-looking Huracán STO, which their report mentions could be called the Huracán JV Stradale.

Now we’ve already talked about the possibility of Lamborghini releasing a kind of ‘Touring’ version of the track-inspired Huracán STO in our article on the four new models Lamborghini will be releasing later in 2022, but with these new spy shots published on motor1.com, we just had to come back to this one a second time around.

The article mentions these photos were taken during cold-weather testing, showing a new car that resembles the Huracán STO but comes with a different front bumper, a different rear wing, and an STO inspired rear diffuser, they even mention the possibility of a power increase for what they list as an upcoming Lamborghini Huracán JV Stradale, but they don’t mention what the JV would stand for anywhere in their article.

But let’s take a closer look at these spy shots … doesn’t this black car look like the older Huracán Performante instead of a ‘tamer’ version of the STO, the Super Trofeo Omologata? The front bumper is exactly the same, which on the Performante came with the ALA, the Lamborghini version of active aerodynamics.

And that’s the same for the rear wing we see here, that’s also the ALA version we’ve seen on the Huracán Performante before, and from what I can see on the close-up of the rear diffuser, with those special, dual exhausts … that’s also Performante if you ask me, so why is this being called a new prototype for a second STO version, called the JV Stradale?

However, it does raise the question of why Lamborghini would be taking an old Huracán Performante onto these snow-covered roads for some extensive testing, while the last Performante was built about three years ago already, in 2019. I’m sure they are hiding something different underneath this black test-mule, and if they are testing a tamer version of the Huracan STO, that would mean this Performante body is hiding a rear-wheel drivetrain, while the Performante was AWD.

Whichever new model Lamborghini might be testing here, hiding beneath a Huracán Performante body, will be revealed over the next months, Lamborghini has already confirmed four new models this year, and we know that will consist of two different Urus updates, one which might be a wide-body Urus Sportivo edition while the second will most likely just be the mid-life facelift version. The third model could be that Huracán Sterrato version, which personally I find very odd to raise a sportscar so it has some off-road capabilities … and that leaves a fourth model, with the Aventador Ultimae being the swansong of the V12 flagship, there will probably be an additional Huracán version, which most likely will be a more aggressive styled RWD model that sits in between the EVO RWD and the STO.