Just earlier today, we discussed the imminent debut of the Porsche 911 Dakar (or Safari), mentioning that Lamborghini is also preparing a lifted iteration of the Huracan. And here we are, zooming in on a fresh spy video that showcases the production version of the 2023 Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato exiting the Lamborghini factory.
While the Lamborghini doesn’t have Porsche’s rallying heritage, off-roading is in the Italians’ DNA. Back in the 1980s when SUVs were still working to move past their strictly utilitarian roots, the Raging Bull went completely bananas and turned an unsuccessful military project into the bonkers LM002 super-SUV, whose Countach V12 made for the base engine—a much larger marine V12 was optional.
Of course, Lambo currently makes the Urus, which is getting close to its mid-cycle revamp, but the eccentricity of the Huracan Sterrato means some might consider this to be a more fitting spiritual successor to the LM002—or could just hone the Urus into a 6×6 monster like this French builder.
The story of the Sterrato went public in 2019, when the carmaker introduced this name for a concept vehicle, denying production intentions. Following tons of spy footage, Sant’Agata Bolognese released a teaser back in July this year—this is the second clip below.
We’re looking at the production 2023 Huracan Sterrato
Compared to the show car, the teased vehicle lost the roof-fitted LED light bar, while adopting a roof scoop feeding fresh air to the mid-mounted V10. And, if we zoom in on this test vehicle, the nose lights are gone, while the colored camo also covers the black overfenders of the teased car—lens tip to YouTuber Varyx for the footage.
However, that’s where the differences end, and it’s clear that we’re dealing with the production version of the rally-ready supercar. As for the official release of the Huracan Sterrato, this should land by the end of the year, hitting the US market as a 2023 model.
And if you’re looking for clues, keep in mind that, early on in 2022, Lamborghini talked about this year bringing us two new Huracan derivatives. The first was the Tecnica of April, which mixes the 631 hp (640 PS) RWD fury of the STO with less aggressive aero for a more road-biased use. And the said teaser let us know the Sterrato would be the one to follow.
The tech side of the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato
The Sterrato is expected to be based on the AWD Huracan Evo, which is the facelifted version of the “standard” all-wheel drive model that replaced the 2014 original in 2019. As for what the engineers are fitting to the car in addition to a few extra inches of ground clearance, we’ll get to that below.
We’re expecting the N/A 5.2L V10 of the Sterrato to offer the same 631 hp (640 PS) as other models in the range. However, the changes that will allow this Lambo to give Ferrari Purosangue drivers a hard time will include hardware bits (e.g., different active suspension) and software upgrades (e.g., a dedicated off-road driving mode with specific calibration for the ABS, AWD, and others).
Given the lifted nature of the supercar, it may not reach the same 202 mph (325 km/h) top speed as the Huracan Evo, but this sort of change is also heavily dependent on the tires, as is the rough terrain prowess of the vehicle.
Is this the end of the line for Lamborghini’s V10?
Now, some voices claim that the Sterrato will be the final iteration of the Huracan. Nevertheless, unlike in the case of the 2011-introduced Aventador, whose replacement has been spotted testing, we’ve seen no prototype of a Huracan successor.
A lot rests on the generation change of Lamborghini’s smaller supercar, with the main question revolving around the survival of the atmospheric V10.
Once again, while Lamborghini has confirmed that the Aventador successor will keep its V12, albeit in electrified form, Lamborghini CTO Rouven Mohr has only mentioned that the replacement for the Huracan will employ a plug-in hybrid system and pack between 6 and 12 cylinders.
There’s even a recent Motor Trend article that talks about the Huracan’s V10 being axed in favor of a V8 whose twin turbos would only operate between 7,000 and 10,000 rpm, while also adding the hybridization part. However, with the report citing unnamed sources and Motor Trend having previously published reports that carmakers ended up dismissing (think: Hellcat survival past 2023), we’d take this story with a grain of salt.
