V10 Throwdown! Lexus LFA Takes on Lamborghini Huracan STO in a Battle of Sound

By Mark Webb - May 27, 2022

In a battle between a Lamborghini Huracan STO and Lexus LFA, everyone who hears these two incredible sounding V10 supercars goes home a winner.

Supercars of the recent past don’t hold up well compared to new models. Improvements in technology and performance mean that the new cars are faster. Styling doesn’t hold up well either. What once seemed avant grade becomes outdated like jean shorts paired with white shoes. But there are exceptions like the Lexus LFA. The car is peak OCD Lexus from when they sought to make the best car ever. Rarer than unicorns, when they do turn up they sell for over $1 million each. But with a 4.8 liter naturally aspirated V10 churning out 552 horsepower and a 9,000 RPM redline, they are feral unicorns.

But time marches on, even for an evergreen unicorn like the LFA. This fact was laid bare by the guys at Throttle House in a recent drag race. Compared to the up-to-the-minute Lamborghini Huracan STO, the LFA appears to have lost a step. The Huracan’s V10 displaces 5.2 liters and belts out 630 horsepower. It looks very modern with the chiseled appearance of a CrossFit athlete on the Keto diet.

So does the Lexus LFA stand a chance?

To start with, it’s hampered by a clutch that is both fragile and expensive to replace. Using launch control is out of the question. But the Lexus LFA still manages to walk away from the Huracan during the first run. That victory is short-lived because Thomas, the driver of the Lamborghini, determines the Huracan wasn’t configured in the right mode for a drag race. The second race goes the Huracan’s way with the driver shifting in manual mode. The second race is quickly followed by a third – this time with a rolling start. And once again the Huracan dusts the Lexus LFA.

“He’s not that far ahead!” says James, the driver of the LFA. That may sound like a hollow victory until you listen to the LFA’s sound. The Lamborghini Huracan sounds incredible like it’s performing arias for your personal enjoyment. It is a Lamborghini after all. But it sounds like most Lamborghinis.

But the LFA… that sound is hard to describe.

No other car in the world sounds like an LFA. It’s unique. To hear it is like hearing music for the first time. The sound reminds you of what you felt like as a kid hearing the car which made you love cars. The Lexus timeline splits between “Before LFA” and “After LFA” because nothing before or since has come close to it.

So yeah, the Lamborghini is faster. Usain Bolt is also faster than Steve Perry, but I know who I’d rather listen to sing. And while the race between the Lamborghini Huracan and Lexus LFA isn’t that lopsided, hearing the LFA is like hearing Steve Perry with Journey, at their peak without the cliches. But if the LFA is Steve Perry then the Lamborghini Huracan is Arnel Pineda, who currently fronts the band Journey. And he ain’t too bad either.