We tested the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato: an off-road supercar that is more fun the dirtier

While some of you are (or are) resting from a well-deserved summer break, others continue to work hard. Very hard As much as we have gone to a mine in Italy to remove the earth and rocks in search of results.

I am not lying to you, although some nuances must be taken into account. We have gone to Bologna to test the new Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato in the midst of a very brutal experience, and what we found is an absolutely amazing car.

Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato: unnecessary and desired

You could be relaxing on a beach with no one in sight. Only the sea, that hour of the afternoon when the sun no longer burns, and a cold beer, but no. Someone has to sacrifice and make an effort to continue working. I sacrifice myself for everyone.

It's time to leave in the heat wave of 2023 towards the airport, catch a flight and get fully into the Motor Valley. That Italian region in the heart of Bologna where some of the most illustrious names in motorsport, competition, and the most attractive street cars in history come together.

Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Ducati, Dallara... The Emilia Romagna region is an incredible place to get lost with idyllic roads through landscapes or architecture, a gastronomy that is truly crazy and a fervor for the motor world that is you can smell it in the air.

Young people move from the rest of Italy to train and study in this region where brands in turn look for the engineers of the future with a point that academic training does not give: passion.

Focusing on our job duty, we went there to meet one of the most special cars launched in the last year. It is the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, and it is part of the celebration of the 60 years of history that the house of the bull celebrates since its birth in 1963 in Sant'Agata Bolognese by the hand of one Ferruccio Lamborghini.

In a market where each brand tries to cover as many niches as possible, Sterrato is difficult to define. It is an apocalyptic variation of the Huracán that contains some aesthetic innovations and other practical ones that make a lot of sense.

In general, the Sterrato is a Huracán that retains that same low and sharp silhouette of the Italian supercar, although now it looks a little taller. The bumpers are new with reinforced bottoms and more discreet aerodynamic elements to avoid scratches and stones. There is no marked front splitter and at the rear, the diffuser has been replaced by a skid plate.

The bottoms have also been reinforced to protect the mechanical elements and the heels are also more protected. Additionally, some new wheel arches have been installed and screwed in a badass plan and that, in addition to protecting the bodywork, serves to wrap some wheels that have separated from the center. The tracks have been widened by 30 and 34 mm front and rear respectively.

Also on the side, we see an important technical difference and that is that the side air inlets to the engine have been blinded to prevent it from swallowing dust. In its place, an upper air intake has been installed on the roof.

In addition, the roof receives new bars to equip a luggage rack in which a full-size spare wheel can be carried. As a curiosity, in this case, you will have to choose between the front or rear wheel because they have different measurements.

One of the identifying features of the Sterrato is the supplementary headlights. These LED assemblies are optional and only work with the long ones connected. Since they cannot be approved in some countries (Japan, for example), the brand has chosen to keep them, but only as an accessory. And you have to choose between the lights on the front or those that are placed on the roof rack, because the homologation only allows a couple of extra bulbs, according to what the engineers told us.

The number of options available in the model configurator is overwhelming, making each model virtually unique and the brand will limit some of the special orders to ensure production capacity. For example, the vinyl? Well, they are not stickers, it is paint applied by hand and that extra alone adds dozens of hours of work for a single unit.

We had the opportunity to compare it directly with a Huracán Tecnica and the differences are abysmal. While the Tecnica looks like the more defined, refined, and purposeful Huracán, the Sterrato looks like what would be a Mad Max-esque version of the Italian supercar.

Seeing the two together, you had to ask yourself a question about the Sterrato: Is it pretty? I wouldn't say that much. Perhaps the most appropriate thing would be to say that within the group of popular boys, it is the attractive friend of the handsome one, the one who looks more like a scoundrel, the less serious, and for some reason you know that you are going to have a good time no matter what.

	LENGTH	WIDTH	HEIGHT	WHEELBASE
HURRICANE STERRATO	4.525 mm	1.956 mm	1.248 mm	2.629 mm
HURRICANE TECHNICAL	4.567 mm	1.933 mm	1.165 mm	2.620 mm

The dimensions have changed. It has 44mm more travel on the suspensions for a total of 16cm of ground clearance. It is also 25mm shorter, 23mm wider, and 83mm taller. The battle grows very slightly - 9 mm.

Premium interior in a quirky supercar

To get on the Huracán Sterrato, we must admit that it is appreciated that it is a little higher. You have to bend over to get your ass in but not that much. I liked that the threshold of the door was not too exaggerated either, something that helps access and also habitability. The McLaren 720S seemed much more awkward to me in this regard.

Once inside I really liked the overall quality perception. The finishes are very good as well as the assembly and the quality of the controls. Things of belonging to a large group. Something that is also noticeable is that it shares some controls with cars from previous generations of Audi.

Then you notice a layer of Lamborghini in general, with a very personal arrangement of elements. Some controls are located at the top of the dashboard and are arranged in an aviation style. Some work the other way around, like the windows that if you move them up the windows go down and go up (?).

The boot sequence is avionics style with a (somewhat flimsy) red cap that you have to lift to push the starter button. The gear selector is positioned on the center console and is also a little weird with push button P and D positions and reverse R looking like a plastic knob that you have to pull back. It's not very functional, but it's really cool.

Between the upper controls and those of the transmission, we have the screen of the multimedia system. It's practical and simple in its functions, reasonably fast for not one of today's best infotainment systems, and it's excessively angled. Something that with the use we gave this car ended up being a trap for dirt.

As for the driving position, we find seats that are not standard. He equipped the Sports, quite hard, with manual adjustment and with a lot of lateral support that leaves you boxed in. We did a lot of miles in this car and through broken spots, so I wouldn't have missed the stock seats with a bit more padding. Racing seats, even more radical, are also available as an option.

In front we have a steering wheel that in this case was lined in Alcantara and with high temperatures and without gloves it is not the best, but the touch seemed good to me, and the perfect size. In its lower part, it incorporates a small switch to change the driving modes (Strada, Sport, and Rally).

Turn signals take some getting used to. The control is placed on the left radio and they work like those of a motorcycle: you move to the right or to the left to activate the blinkers on one side or the other. You press and disconnect it.

I liked that there's a lot of adjustment available in both the seats and the steering wheel, so it's easy to feel comfortable inside the Huracán Sterrato. What there is not is very good visibility for sitting so low. We have no references on where the nose is and through the central mirror you can see 99% of absolutely nothing. The side mirrors did seem very useful and well-resolved.

The dashboard is a 100% digital screen similar to the ones used by Audi in some of its models, although the graphics have been completely rethought by Lamborghini to achieve its own experience.

I found it to be a practical box that always gives priority to revs, speed, and gear engaged and there is no overdose of unnecessary data. It does incorporate relevant driving indicators (including off-road data such as incline in Rally mode), GPS commands, and the rear-view camera.

In general terms, it seemed to me a more habitable car than the McLaren 720S (for being my most recent reference) for space and better finish. It is true that my unit with 4,000 km already had some crickets and that these cars always suffer from the same problem: there is hardly any storage space. The interior voids are testimonial and the front trunk only holds 100 liters.

The farewell to the last natural V10

If there's one thing we love about these cars, it's their mechanical purity. The Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato is special not only because of its approach but also because it will be the farewell to the amazing naturally aspirated 5.2 V10 block of the house. We didn't make it up. We got it out of an engineer.

This engine is possibly one of those that reproduce the most beautiful melody in the current scene. It is not the brutality of a V8 nor the stridency of a V12. It is a perfect balance that, in addition, does not have electrification or supercharging. And unlike the Audi R8 which shares an engine, it is not as soundproof.

As soon as you start it, you have to stay for a while with your eyes closed, enjoying how this bug sounds at idle and then savoring the delicious connection between the right pedal and the bellow that comes out of the exhausts. And yes, it makes some lovely popcorn. And even riding behind one at night you will be able to see the incandescent interior of the exhausts with open butterflies and some mystical blue flames in reductions.

Praised be these mechanics that we have to say goodbye to. Because they force us, of course.

After doing the entire start-up takeoff sequence, we set off and in the first few meters that we traveled through streets in industrial and urban areas, with their potholes and bumps, it turned out to be a peculiar car. You go very low, in a supercar chassis, but the reactions are not what you expect.

It is the most comfortable Lamborghini in the range (with permission from the Urus). The suspensions are not dry nor are you bouncing all the time. What's more, it seemed to me that it is a comfortable car for the segment from which it derives. Especially in Strada mode, which softens the gas response and muffles the exhaust sound.

Suspensions with extended travel allow adjustable hardness shock absorbers to better digest irregularities and with an extra dose of progressiveness, they feel very good. For someone who wants a supercar for everyday life, the Sterrato may be a good daily car for its feel.

We leave urban environments and we are going to stretch our legs on the highway, where the roar of the V10 rising in revs hits you to the seat almost as much as its thrust capacity. I found the Sterrato's high-speed stability perfect, steering precise, and no wind noise. More than anything you listen to the engine and forget about the rest.

I did notice some vibration in the steering wheel. A constant and very fine vibration that possibly came from the tires. The Huracán Sterrato sits on specific 19-inch wheels with purpose-developed Bridgestone Dueler tires.

They are run-flat type tires, with a block pattern and a carcass developed specifically for the model. Its measurements are 235/40-19 and 285/40-19 (smaller than those of a Tecnica).

Before lunch, we made a stop at the Circuito de Varano, which we arrived at under an intense storm that left the track with a generous layer of water. Water, off-road tread tires...let the dance begin. We did the first few laps very carefully. The conditions were not the best. Luckily things were fixed pretty quickly.

We draw some quick conclusions by being able to push hard on the right foot. With 610PS at 8,000rpm and 565Nm of torque at 6,500rpm, the Huracán Sterrato runs far more than anyone would need off the track. Starting at 5,000 rpm, it brings out wild mids that you start to stretch until you reach the red line. By then you are going too fast, or too sideways, or both.

We were also able to verify how there is some weight transfer that surely there is not in a Tecnica due to the greater height. Now, that does not mean that it is a bad thing, but that the sensations are different. It was a lot of fun for me to get to the corner, hit the brakes, feel the weight change, turn, and accelerate.

And when accelerating, party. It is easy to dislodge the car naturally and correct it, or prolong the skid to taste. The marvel of mid-engine cars and, in addition, all-wheel drive. Although it behaves in a rather wild way letting the car move. Driving aids are effective but not restrictive.

Lamborghini prefers that you notice what is happening than that you always go to the site. In this sense, it seemed to me more nervous and less docile than the McLaren 720S and taking into account that the McLaren is rear-wheel drive and more powerful. It may have been a matter of the tires or the track conditions.

After this aperitif, we radically changed gears and went for kilometers in settings where you would never expect to find a Lamborghini: goat roads with very broken asphalt, a mud road in a forest, and an open-cast mine with gravel soil.

In any of these locations, I would dare to put a supercar of 300,000 euros. Lamborghini made us do it to show us that they are not afraid of getting dirty, literally.

The distrust that studded tires can generate on asphalt (wet or dry) here became the opposite. They offer an extra dose of grip that allows you to deal with unusual situations for a car of this class, and the distribution of torque helps you not get stuck.

We are not talking about doing 4x4, nor are we talking about a car that is an SUV. We are talking about a supercar with the ability to make concessions on unpaved terrain, but the better surface they have, the better.

And what concessions we made. On wide roads and flat surfaces, it is an extremely fun car with which you can play aiming to the inside of the curve and exit across. It feels light at the wheel and is very precise in reactions as long as we make the right game between accelerator and steering. There is a lot of traction and it obeys the orders of the gas with a lot of torque available in any revs.

It drifts predictably at the exit of fast corners and we can correct the degree of drift that we can take depending on what we want to have fun with. In tight turns you have to force it a little more, entering with the brake, transferring load in front, and looking for the precise hit of gas to make it spin round. If we go too far with the steering or if there is not enough weight in front, we will go straight.

Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato: (almost) no competition

The Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato will be produced in 1,499 units worldwide. It is not a car that is going to be seen much. In fact, it's a car that nobody had asked for because it doesn't make much sense, but now Lamborghini has practically sold all the production.

They have created a need out of nothing. A car that is destined to become an icon due to its wild and carefree conception and which, incidentally, closes a cycle within the brand. It is a car that celebrates the 60th anniversary of the house, which is the farewell to the Huracán, which is absolutely differential and which is the swan song of the era of naturally aspirated V10s without electrification.

It is also such a special vehicle that it has no competition in the market. Okay, yes. There is only one similar car and it has been presented almost at the same time: the Porsche 911 Dakar.

Both are image cars and they transport us to a world of adventures. Both have a simple approach but with differences. The Lamborghini is much more radical and more powerful. The Porsche 911 Dakar is more refined and noticeably cheaper. The Lamborghini costs 299,515 euros; the Porsche about 40,000 euros less.

Now the question is: how many of these 1,499 Sterratos are going to step on something other than asphalt? I suppose you already know the answer. I at least leave with the satisfaction of being one of the few human beings who have played in a mine with a supercar and have left it covered in mud.

Things of having to work in summer. Someone had to do it.

Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato 2023 - Valuation

Lamborghini was born in 1963, so it turns 60 in 2023. To celebrate, they have pulled out a car that possibly no one had asked for and that many customers now want.

The Huracán Sterrato does not come to play in the SUV league, not at all. It is still a supercar that has been modified to get into crops that you would not mess with any other Huracán, and incidentally, they have created the most comfortable Huracán in the entire saga.

It is an amazing car for its ability to roll fast off-road or on broken asphalt. Of course, the smoother they are, the better. And beyond that, it is a car with practically no direct rivals in the market. Rare avis.