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Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato off-roader is a heavy-metal swan song

Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato off-roader is a heavy-metal swan song


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Lamborghini's Huracán has almost reached retirement age, and it's going out with one hell of a bang. The model's last evolution may be the wildest yet: called Sterrato, it's an off-roading supercar with a rugged-looking design, a big V10, and a desert-ready suspension system.

If the design looks familiar, it's likely because Lamborghini previewed the Sterrato by unveiling a close-to-production concept in June 2019. Some of the finer design details have evolved over the past three years, but the basic idea hasn't: The Sterrato remains recognizable as a member of the Huracán range, but it's characterized by styling cues you'd expect to find on an off-roader such as flared wheel arches, an additional pair of lights on the front end (they will be covered on American-spec cars because they can't be homologated), and roof rails. The coupe sits higher than the regular Huracán and rides on 19-inch wheels. Check out the roof-mounted scoop; it's not there for show.

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"In the STO, the scoop is functional but it's there to help with cooling; the air intakes are on the sides [of the car]. In this car, the air scoop is the air intake, and we have completely revised the intake system because during testing we realized that if you drive very fast off-road, with a lot of direction changes, for a long time then dust blocks the air filters too fast. We decided to close the side entries and added the air scoop to catch the cleanest possible air, and we optimized the air filter itself. This is the reason why the Sterrato has "only" 610 horsepower. It's the same engine as the STO, complete with titanium valves, but the reduction of power is due to the fact that the redesigned air intake system has a bigger air pressure drop," Rouven Mohr, the head of Lamborghini's research and development department, told Autoblog.

Speaking of the engine, power for the Sterrato comes from a naturally-aspirated, 5.2-liter V10 tuned to develop 610 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 417 pound-feet of torque at 6,500 rpm. Mid-mounted, it spins the four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and a mechanical locking rear differential. Lamborghini quotes a 0-to-62 mph time of 3.4 seconds and a 162-mph top speed. For context, the aforementioned STO takes 3 seconds flat to reach 62 mph and tops out at 193 mph — it can't go very far off the pavement, though.