New 2023 Lamborghini Sterrato set to rival Porsche 911 Dakar
Lamborghini’s newest creation is a wild Huracan-based off-roader
The last Lamborghini with a naturally-aspirated engine has arrived and it’s called the Sterrato. It might be based on the Huracan supercar, but the Sterrato is designed to take on the dirt and gravel rather than the smooth tarmac of racing circuits.
The Sterrato is the “first super sports car designed for driving on loose surfaces, reinterpreting the concept of sportiness” says Lamborghini. It will also be the final version of the Huracan - which has been with us since 2014.
While the idea of a supercar-based off-roader might seem like a niche concept, the Sterrato has a rival in the form of the Porsche’s new SC Safari-inspired 911 Dakar. Lamborghini is keen to point out that the Sterrato sits in its own category of ‘super sports off-roader’ however. Production will start from February 2023 and with 1,499 units planned, the Sterrato will be rarer than the Porsche. No convertible ‘Spyder’ version will be made available.
CEO of Lamborghini, Stephen Winklemann says the Sterrato “belongs in the world’s most dynamic and exciting driving environments”. Whereas the firm’s Chief Technical Officer, Rouvan Mohr, claims the car has “combined the driving experience of a supercar and the fun of a rally car”.
Judging by the way the Sterrato looks, it should fulfil Lamborghini’s vision for it. We first saw plans for the Sterrato back in 2019 with an off-road focused concept car and the final model looks pretty much the same as the early prototype. The production Sterrato doesn’t feature roof-mounted lights, but pretty much everything else is there.
At the front there’s a pair of LED lights on the nose of the Sterrato, while the concept’s flared wheel arches are carried over. There’s no sign of the titanium roll cage and front and rear skid plates we’ve seen previously, although there is a small lip spoiler at the rear, as found on the Huracan EVO model.
The nose features a pair of LED lights, a bespoke front bumper design and aluminium front underbody protection. The Sterrato’s off-road capability (not to mention the car’s ingress and egress) is further enhanced by a raised ride height - a 44mm ground clearance increase over the standard Huracan Evo. The track widths have been expanded by 30mm at the front and 34mm at the rear. The riveted-on wheel arches house a new style of 19-inch alloy wheel made specifically for the Sterrato and those wheels are wrapped in Bridgestone off-road tyres developed specifically for the Sterrato.
Given that the Sterrato is perhaps the most extreme Huracan yet, you may expect to see it utilise the STO’s roof-mounted air intake, but a new design appears here. Lamborghini says during testing the Sterrato managed to fill the roof scoop with dirt, hence why a new version was developed for the car. The sills have been reinforced to deal with tough off-roading and the off-road modifications extend to the rear where the diffuser has been removed in favour of a scuff panel. The car also receives the Huracan Evo’s more modest lip spoiler than the huge wing found on the STO.
The Sterrato can also be subjected to Lamborghini’s Ad Personam programme, which allows customers to choose from over 350 exterior paint finishes, 60 types of interior upholstery combinations and a slew of other personalisation options.
Engine and performance
The engine is the same 5.2-litre V10 we’ve been accustomed to seeing on Huracan models and in the Sterrato it pumps out 610bhp and 565Nm of torque - the same as in the Evo RWD. It sends power through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission to all four wheels. With the incoming Aventador replacement set to use hybrid power, the Sterrato will be the last in the line of naturally-aspirated Lamborghinis.
Despite the focus on off-road ability, the Sterrato is only 0.1 seconds slower from 0-62mph than the Evo RWD with a time of 3.4 seconds. Its top speed is severely reduced from 202mph to 162mph - which is mostly due to the all-terrain tyres. There’s also a mechanical self-locking differential to help put power down on loose surfaces.
The Sterrato gets its own driving mode selection with ‘Strada’, ‘Sport’, and the new ‘Rally’ option. The suspension uses a double-wishbone setup with hydraulic dampers and Lamborghini’s “MagneRide” electromagnetic damping adjustability. The brakes are made up of six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston ones to the rear with carbon-ceramic discs.
Lamborghini has made the slightly tenuous link that the Sterrato draws on the brand’s brief dabble with rallying during the 1970s, picking up where the specially-modified, desert-going Jarama and Urraco rally cars left off.
Back in 2019 Lamborghini’s Chief Technical Officer, Maurizio Reggiani (now Lamborghini’s Vice President of Motorsport) commented: “The Huracan Sterrato illustrates Lamborghini’s commitment to being a future shaper: a super sports car with off-road capabilities, the Sterrato demonstrates the Huracán’s versatility and opens the door to yet another benchmark of driving emotion and performance.”
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