Future classic: Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato

By Ben Barry

| 12 Dec 2023

Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato

Supercars and off-roading usually go together like high heels and beaches, but for the Huracán Sterrato it’s part of the point – sterrato translates as ‘dirt road’.

It’s a supercar first, and follows the recent Porsche 911 Dakar and Ariel Nomad.

The Sterrato also represents the end of the road for the Huracán and non-hybrid Lamborghinis.

There’s no shortage of interest – a run of 1063 units has increased to 1499, all of which are sold.

The Sterrato’s cabin is little changed from a standard Lamborghini Huracán – bar the roof-mounted air scoop in the rear-view mirror

The ride height is raised by 44mm, the tracks widened 30mm front, 35mm rear, and the 19in alloys wear chunky Bridgestone Dueler tyres.

Underbody protection includes an aluminium undertray and beefier sills, and the 5.2-litre V10 breathes through a roof snorkel.

With front spotlights and wheelarch extensions it looks stunning in an Instagram sort of way, but there’s a nagging suspicion that its raised ride and knobbly tyres will spoil the dynamics.

Curiously, it’s on-road that the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato makes the most sense

Yet the Sterrato works surprisingly well on track at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, California.

Naturally, there’s more pitch and roll than in a ‘normal’ Huracán – and less grip, too – but languid slides are easy to gather up, with the all-wheel drive and abundant power helping to straighten things out.

The steering is also surprisingly alert, given the chunkier rubber.

The familiar Lamborghini V10 engine revs to a rip-roaring 8600rpm

It feels deeply wrong to chuck the Sterrato off the circuit and into the desert bush, but it pummels over faster sections like a rally car and finds good traction in the deeper sand.

Most striking is how controlled it feels, even when the wheels take some wince-inducing hits – rebound damping smooths it over and the steering slips calmy through your hands as the bite of asphalt is replaced by the intuitive dance of managing weight transfer, guiding and feeling for grip.

All the while there’s that V10 behind, its 8600rpm stretch providing almost endless options to adjust the balance.

The Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato soaks up the bumps on a desert raid

Given that the suspension isn’t strengthened and the carbon-ceramic brakes are retained (a potential issue due to abrasion from sand), you get the sense that Lamborghini is banking on most customers not routinely venturing off-road.

But to be fair, it’s when we head on to the road to explore the route through Joshua Tree National Park that the Sterrato starts to really make sense, simply because it brings some GT flavour to the Huracán experience.

It rides with compliance and control on its softer suspension, steers nicely and handles well, too.