2023 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato

The Sterrato is the final Huracán. It's signing off in some style...

If you love a secret, you won’t like this. It’s the world’s worst-kept secret, because we’ve seen it, read about it and perhaps one or two of you have even got the T-shirt. Still, that doesn’t stop us writing about it some more now we have the official deets on the new Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato. It is, and we quote:

“The first super sports car designed for maximum driving pleasure even away from the asphalt on loose or dirt surfaces, reinterpreting the very concept of sportiness and emphasizing the brand principles of brave, authentic and unexpected.”

Those are the words of Stephan Winkelmann, Lamborghini’s Chairman and CEO. Really, that’s it in a nutshell. A Lamborghini Huracán derivative, called the Sterrato, which goes a bit off road. And built in a factory with one of those signs on the door reading, ‘You don’t have to mad to work here, but it helps’. Only that’s not teeth clenchingly trite when it comes to Lamborghini – it’s kind of true.

What makes this most fanciful of supercars tick, then? Well, as you would imagine, the main evolution over the Huracán Evo is in the suspension department. Ground clearance has been increased by 44 mm compared with the Evo, and that’s paired with wider wheel arches to deal with the Sterrato’s increased tracks: +30 mm at the front and +34 mm at the rear. It’s obviously still nothing like as high as a Dakar car, so if it does encounter a few larger-than-expected obstacles, it’s had aluminium front underbody protection grafted on, along with beefier sills.

The rest of the body is a mix of aluminium and composite, and because it’s still a supercar at heart that means the rear diffuser has to stay. It might not be much use off-road, but as Lamborghini says, this is a car for road and dirt. There’s also an STO-style air intake above the engine cover to feed the wonderful, 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 with clean air when you’re ploughing a furrow through dirt. For the Sterrato, maximum power is set at 610hp at 8,000rpm (Lamborghini, thanks for that) and there’s 413lb ft of torque when it’s revving at 6,500 rpm. Acceleration is typically epic, with the Sterrato reaching 62 from rest in 3.4 seconds, but the top speed is pegged at a relatively low 162mph.

Achieving that level of acceleration will depend on what surface you’re on, of course, but to keep it as consistent as possible, torque is channelled through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to all four wheels. This isn’t a car that’s sullied by all-wheel drive. To help maximise traction, there’s also a mechanically locking rear differential. Divvying up which wheel gets drive is also done electronically via the four-wheel drive control, and its baselines to are set via the Lamborghini Integrated Vehicle Dynamics system. Along with the usual Strada and Sport modes, the Sterrato offers a Rally mode to optimise drive on low-grip surfaces. It’s the first time we’ve seen that on a Huracán, but not the first time on a Lamborghini – it also part of the Urus Performante package.

Braking performance should be up there with other Huracáns. The Sterrato comes with monoblock calipers at each corner (six-piston fronts and four-piston rears) working on ventilated and cross-drilled carbon-ceramics discs (380 mm diameter at the front and 356 mm at the rear). These sit behind 19-inch wheels with specially developed Bridgestone Dueler AT002 run-flat tyres measuring 235/40 and 285/40. They also have ‘an innovative [tread] pattern design and a cutting edge compound which provide a perfect grip both on gravel and tarmac while keeping an excellent handling and high speed performance’.

Inside, there’s exclusive Alcantara Verde Sterrato upholstery and Sterrato-specific software updates. The touchscreen, for example, has new graphics but also a host of off-road driving widgets, including an inclinometer, compass, coordinates indicator and steering angle indicator. At the opposite extreme, it also comes with Amazon Alexa. The Lamborghini UNICA app adds remote features, such as the ability to monitor the cars’ speed and send destinations directly to the navigation. And the Lamborghini Drive Recorder can also record your antics at the wheel, while Apple Watch users can monitor their heart rate from the on-board telemetry.

That’s all a side-line to the main event, though. What Lamborghini has made here is the kind of largely pointless, out-there car that, well, we love to see. It’s not alone, of course, with the Porsche 911 Dakar hitting the headlines at the LA show, but the Huracán Sterrato is that plus steroids. If you want one – and why wouldn’t you – be quick. The production run is limited to just 1499 units and will begin in February 2023.

Content sourced from: https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-eurocars/lamborghini-hurac-225-n-sterrato-revealed/46544