A look at the Sterrato – and beyond
The idea is already a few years old, almost as old as the Lamborghini Huracan itself. Probably as early as 2015, people in Sant’Agata started thinking about a jacked-up sports car, certainly from 2016, when Mitja Borkert took over the job of chief designer. It remained a finger exercise for the time being, but when Stephan Winkelmann returned to Lamborghini as boss in 2020, things suddenly had to move quickly. A gimmick that had already been extensively tested by the developers became the Huracan Sterrato – and the 1499 examples of this off-road offshoot will probably be the last Huracan before the successor is launched – probably in 2024.
The wildest Huracan currently comes with 640 hp (see, for example: Tecnica), the Sterrato has to make do with 610 hp. But that still gets it from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds – at the top, the “off-road” version is electronically braked at 260 km/h. As before, the power is sent to all four wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox and an electronically controlled Haldex clutch, and there is a mechanical limited-slip differential at the rear. In addition, there is the latest version of the LDVI driving dynamics system, which also has a rally mode on the Sterrato.
Compared to the Huracan Evo, the Sterrato has 44 millimetres more ground clearance. And some add-on parts made of composite materials, under the wing flares also hide a 30 (front) or 34 millimetre wider track. The sills and diffuser have been reinforced, there is aluminium underbody protection at the front, a railing on top of the roof – and an air intake equipped with special filters so that the 5.2-litre V10 does not have to breathe in dust and dirt. The off-roader runs on specially developed Bridgestone Dueler Runflats – and with all these gimmicks it weighs 1470 kilograms.
We were allowed to take a closer look at the Sterrato (driving is not until spring), including inside, where it has a rather unusual green Alcantara interior. And it has a compass and indicators for the angle of inclination. Equipped like this, you’re sure to make it through the desert. Or even deep snow. Lamborghini will only reveal the price later.
But let’s look back a few weeks: Stephan Winkelmann is tired on this evening in Valencia. He doesn’t have to sit in his office in Sant’Agata, the boss and his closest colleagues have travelled to Spain for a few days for the presentation of the Lamborghini Huracan Tecnica. But the programme is tough, the days are long, and in the evenings there are still curious journalists to be catered for. Winkelmann has a lot to tell, even more to explain, and the topic is anything but simple. Because Lamborghini has to prepare for the future now, precisely now. And for the Italians, too, the future will first be hybridised, but then purely electric in the foreseeable future. A big step for a brand whose DNA consists to a large extent of magnificent naturally aspirated engines with twelve cylinders and really coarse noise.
In principle, Winkelmann could smile all this away. At the moment Lamborghini is doing like clockwork, in the first nine months of 2022 the Italians sold 7430 cars, 8 per cent more than in the same period last year and more than ever before. Turnover rose by an impressive 30.1 per cent to 1.93 billion euros, profits by as much as 68.5 per cent to 570 million euros. With a return on sales of 29.6 percent, Lamborghini is probably one of the most profitable car manufacturers in the world. The most important model is, of course, the Urus, which accounts for well over half of the vehicles sold in Sant’Agata. And it is set to expand this position even further with the new Urus S and Urus Performante models.
But that’s just it: September also saw the end of the naturally aspirated V12 (see: Farewell). It will now take a while until all orders have been processed, but this marks the end of an era, since the brand was founded in 1963, there has always been such a great engine in the range. Winkelmann does not officially confirm it (yet), but it is very obvious that there will still be a twelve-cylinder engine – but “only” as a hybrid. That is, with electricity. And no, not with the supercapacitor currently used in the Sian/Countach. Winkelmann says: “There is a completely new engine, a completely new drive train, a completely new battery”. And he lets slip that the new engine will continue to be installed longitudinally behind the passenger compartment.
But that will require a new platform. And this will be constructed in such a way that it can be used as a basis for both the Aventador and the Huracan successor. Because the Huracan with its V10 engine will also have to make way in 2024. What is also clear, however, is that Lamborghini will not (in a first step) use the new PPE technology basis that its parent company Audi has developed together with Porsche. The first purely electric Lamborghini is not expected before 2027, more likely not until 2028 – and then perhaps (probably?) in a collaboration with the Croatian specialist Rimac, which has already taken the reins at Bugatti within the Volkswagen Group. To put it more clearly: The next Lamborghini – Aventador successor, Huracan successor, also the Urus – will come in a first phase as plug-in hybrids. In the case of the Urus, this is not a problem insofar as the corresponding “brothers” from Audi and Bentley are already on the road. However, with a weight disadvantage that is likely to be a bit of a deterrent for a Lamborghini.
Winkelmann explains further: “Lamborghini builds sports cars. And the power-to-weight ratio is what counts first and foremost. If we now add a battery that adds weight, we have to be able to compensate for that. Not only with lower CO2 emissions, but with better driving performance. It must also be possible for our customers to drive one more lap via recuperation, so that they don’t have to feel they are carrying around unnecessary weight.” Then he thinks for a moment and says: “Yes, it’s like squaring the circle. But our engineers will manage it”.
It’s quite possible that they will do the same sooner than expected with a fourth model series, a Gran Turismo, which has been missing from Lamborghini’s programme since Islero and Espada. A decisive weight saving will come from the carbon-fibre monocoque on which most Lamborghinis will be based in future, including the GT (but not the Urus). Winkelmann and his chief designer like to talk about a “spaceship”, which can be read as an indication that it will be more of a crossover than an elegant sedan. A prankster who thinks of the Ferrari Purosangue.
But the Italians are not leaving it at that: in 2021 they launched the “Direzione Cor Tauri” programme, with which they want to reduce the company’s total CO2 emissions by 50 per cent from 2025. That means also in production. A lot has already been done, the factory in Sant’Agata has been considered CO2-neutral since 2015, but now the Italians are also taking on the supply chains, environmental protection, the employees. This is quite surprising for a manufacturer whose vehicles used to burn 25 litres of petrol at the stand. And to be seen in a positive light.
Photos: Andreas Riedmann, factory, pru… We have more exciting vehicles in our archives.
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