A version of this story first appeared in Revolution Magazine USA

Whoever came up with the thought to lift a Lamborghini Huracán and turn it into an on- and off-road rally car was also probably responsible for some wild parties back in college. We’re talking about a V10 supercar more often featured in Instagram reels for straight pipe exhausts and “would you date me if I pulled up in this (rental) Lamborghini” TikToks.

When the Sterrato was announced, I was firmly in the camp of “why?” The above Lambo jokes aside, the Huracán over the years has been a phenomenal sports car for the road. The 5.2-liter V10 engine revving to 8,500rpm has been a gem since its inception in 2015. Connected to a brilliant double-clutch gearbox finally retiring the massively antiquated E-gear transmission from the Gallardo, it was a complete sensory assault.

Through the years, Lamborghini has tuned the Huracán platform with various trims and performance levels, culminating with the current, rather racy STO and Tecnica models. Before the Sterrato came along, Lamborghini had already developed some near-perfect supercars that were reliable, easy to drive at very high speeds, and massively pleasure-inducing — yes, even when stopped at a red light, revving for the ‘gram.

Through the years, Lamborghini has tuned the Huracán platform with various trims and performance levels, culminating with the current, rather racy STO and Tecnica models. Before the Sterrato came along, Lamborghini had already developed some near-perfect supercars that were reliable, easy to drive at very fast speed, and massively pleasure inducing — yes, even when stopped at a red light revving for the ‘gram.

Yet, someone had this wild idea to make a variant of the Huracán that not only thrilled on the road, but that could also be thrown around off-road, all day. It even came with the same three-year, unlimited mileage warranty a normal road car would have.

Like many people when they first saw the buzzes of an off-road, rally-type Huracán that was supposed to be the endcap of the Huracán dynasty (it’s been nearly 10 years since the Huracán’s debut), I was puzzled. Why would anyone want a sports car built for something most people don’t have access to? I mean, yeah, if you live in Utah and have acres of land to play on, I can see it. But for most of us? It seemed like a bit of a gimmick.

Then the Sterrato was finally revealed a year-and-change later. Upon seeing the press pictures, I thought to myself: OK, the car looks like it’s got some tack-on fenders from a random performance auto parts store, but — I dunno why — I kinda like it!

From a brand that’s long known to have penned some of the most wild and iconic sports car designs since the ’60s, there was something about the Sterrato’s lack of, well, prettiness that made this car desirable to me. The fenders pushed the body out comically; the raised suspension with thick (or thicc, if you will), meaty off-road tires sitting under the fenders; the enormous, functional roof scoop sitting proudly at the top of the rear deck-lid; and last but not least, REI-grade front rally lights plopped right in the center of the front hood… This car looked wild.

Fast forward a few months, and I started seeing YouTube reviews of the Sterrato by some of my friends who were blown away by the car, both for its on-road and off-road driving characteristics. I’m not sure if I’d ever seen some of these guys smile that much while driving a car. It was at that point that I thought, “Oops, I should have ordered one of these.”

I texted my local dealer (Lamborghini Philadelphia, love you guys): “OK, I was wrong, is there any way I can buy one of these?” With a little good fortune and a heap load of luck, there was one car that was still available and they allocated it to me.

Off the beaten track

Delivery day came and I was amped. I finally saw the Sterrato in person, and it looked tough. I got inside and fired up the familiar V10 engine, pulled the paddle to put the car into first gear and took off with my salesman (or, rather, “addiction supplier,” perhaps) Jesse.

Immediately, I was in shock. This mean-and-ornery-looking off-road supercar rode more like a sporty Bentley than a rally car. Driving down the 55mph road surrounded by people staring at the Sterrato and its mission-to-Mars styling, we were in complete comfort. The shocks absorbed everything that the road threw at it and laughed at road imperfections as it screamed away with its turned-up-to-eleven V10 symphony.

I pulled into an empty parking lot with a smirk and told Jesse I was curious how much grip the knobby tires would have with 620hp behind them. I stopped the Sterrato, switched the traction control completely off, turned the wheel slightly, and punched the gas pedal. The Sterrato launched forward a bit, then brought its rear around, in a perfectly controllable way, and sent us into a picture-perfect drift in the parking lot (this was on a closed road with professional drivers, mind you).

The Sterrato proved to be unbelievably controllable past its limit of adhesion, and we were laughing like the A/C vents were expelling nitrous oxide. This car was something special, and we both knew it. I made my way back to the dealer, dropped Jesse off and headed out with the car. Two thousand miles later, it’s become one of my favorite cars to drive, and I plan on keeping it indefinitely.

The Sterrato is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife when it comes to the supercar experience. I’m hard-pressed to think of something the Sterrato can’t do, save cure cancer or reply to an awkward text without making it worse.

As a car person (and this applies to the watch world as well), there’s always the overarching “horses for courses” theme to the things we nerd out on, use-case wise. If you know you have to go to X place, with Y roads and parking situation and the weather is Z, you take car ______. The Sterrato becomes the car that fills in that blank in an ultimate way, regardless of X, Y or Z. Pennsylvania country roads in the snow? No problem.

Compared to the Huracán EVO 4wd, the ride height has been increased by just over an inch. But between that and the slightly thicker tires, it gives you enough height to get over annoying road dips, parking lot entrances and even the random stick or rock in the middle of the road that normally scrapes the entire underside of your car while you curse out loud.

This extra inch, accompanied by its suspension tuning and softer tire compound, also allows for just a little bit of extra roll in the car. It actually becomes pretty fun to play with. Get on the gas hard, the car squats, the front tires claw for grip, and the Sterrato rockets down the road. Step on the brakes, the front end dips aggressively, and your seatbelt helps stop you from tasting the Italian Alcantara steering wheel.

You’ve really got to be careful with your inputs as the suspension amplifies them. This sensitivity makes you a better driver, or at least more focused. When you hustle the Sterrato down a back road, you have to pre-tune your inputs for the corner coming ahead, as the car has to set first momentarily before it attacks the corner like an overweight middle-schooler who lunges for that after-school pop tart.

You have to be fully present when you’re driving the Sterrato at as fast a clip as the sports-car gods intended. The result? An unreal amount of engagement and a grin large enough to be the subject of a “yo mamma” joke. And, at the end of the day, this is really what driving a sports car is all about.