A Lamborghini rally car? The idea is as awesome as it is unlikely. Lamborghini doesn’t have much of a history in racing, let alone rallying. But with the Italian automaker getting increasingly involved in motorsports, and gaining off-road experience with the Urus SUV, the bosses decided to cook up a rally-inspired concept car. Behold the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato.
The Sterrato is based on the recently introduced Lamborghini Huracán Evo. It’s the Italian automaker’s entry-level model, if you can call a six-figure mid-engine supercar “entry-level.” The Sterrato retains the Huracán Evo’s 5.2-liter V10 engine, which makes 640 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque. The all-wheel drive system and four-wheel steering carry over as well, along with Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata (LDVI), which adjusts different vehicle parameters on the fly to improve performance. Lambo has said LDVI is so smart that it can predict a driver’s next move.
Lamborghini took those basic ingredients and added some Mad Max flavor. The Sterrato’s ground clearance was increased by 47 millimeters (1.8 inches), and the track was widened by 30 mm (1.1 in) with fender flares. This gave the Sterrato a more aggressive look, more underbody clearance for uneven terrain, and made room for chunky tires mounted on 20-inch wheels. With tall sidewalls and wide, open-shoulder blocks designed to evacuate mud and dirt, one would normally expect to find these tires on an off-road truck or SUV, not a supercar. A smattering of LED lights completes the transformation.
What you can’t see is just as important. To protect the underside of the car from rocks and other debris, Lamborghini fitted it with a rear skid plate that doubles as a diffuser. An aluminum front skid plate and side reinforcements provide added protection. Lamborghini also used a composite material made from carbon fiber and elastomeric resin to make mudguards and stone deflectors for the engine air intakes. The driver and passenger need protection, too, so Lamborghini fitted the Sterrato with a titanium roll cage and carbon fiber shell seats with four-point harnesses.
Lamborghini noted that the Sterrato isn’t entirely without precedent. In the 1970s, test driver Bob Wallace converted a Lamborghini Urraco and Jarama into rally cars. While rallying today conjures images of souped-up compact hatchbacks and sedans, exotic sports cars like the Ferrari 308 have competed in the past. The Lancia Stratos and 037 look like stereotypical supercars, but they were designed specifically for rallying.
The Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato concept isn’t slated for production. While it would be great to see the Sterrato go up against Jaguar’s F-Type rally car on an actual rally stage, Lamborghini’s racing activities will likely stay on the pavement. Lambo claims more than 20 teams around the world use its Huracán GT3 Evo race car. So far this year Lamborghinis have won their class at the prestigious Rolex 24 at Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring races.
