What's the difference?
Lamborghini is a brand built on madness, excess and eye-searing design. Its cars don’t have to make sense, and indeed its owners probably prefer it if they don’t - they have other vehicles to use for the real world.
So, the existence of the new Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, the world’s first 'All-terrain Supercar', a V10-engined mad machine built to drive sideways at high speed on dirt, should not come as a surprise.
And yet it really does, because there’s never been anything like it before (yes, Porsche has built the 911 Dakar, but it’s more of a sand-dune-climbing, desert-crossing motorsport tribute), for the very good reason that no one ever considered it would be a good idea.
It also sounds just a touch intimidating, the kind of driving experience that would require pro rally driver skills to survive, so it was with some trepidation that we headed to Palm Springs, USA, to test out the new Huracan Sterrato.
Lamborghini is famous for making glamorous supercars whose pilots seem so carefree they don’t appear to need a boot, or back seats, or even families.
They don’t even seem to mind them being so low they have to get in and out on all fours – well that’s how I need to do it, anyway.
Yup, Lamborghini is famous for these exotic race cars for the road… not SUVs.
But it will be, I know it.
I know, because the new Lamborghini Urus came to stay with my family and we torture tested it, not on the track or off-road, but in the 'burbs doing the shopping, the school drop-offs, braving multi-storey car parks and the potholed roads daily.
While I never like to give the game away this early in a review, I need to say the Urus is astounding. This is truly a super SUV that is every bit as Lamborghini as I hoped, but with a big difference – you can live with it.
Here’s why.
Not just a spectacularly stupid idea made real, the Lamborghini Sterrato is by far the best, or at least most hilarious, of the many Huracan variants the company has produced.
It makes you feel like a hero, even when you’re going sideways on dirt like a nutter. It could just be my new favourite supercar.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
Lamborghini has nailed it. The Urus is a super SUV that’s fast, dynamic, and has Lamborghini looks, but just as importantly it’s practical, spacious, comfortable and easy to drive. You’re not going to find those last four attributes in a sentence about an Aventador.
Where the Urus loses marks is in terms of warranty, value for money and fuel consumption.
I didn’t take the Urus on the Corsa nor the Neve, nor Sabbia and Terra, but as I said in my video we know this SUV is capable on the track and that it can go off-road.
What I really wanted to see was how well it handled regular life. Any competent SUV can deal with shopping centre car parks, dropping kids off at school, carrying boxes and bags, and of course fitting and being driven as you would any car.
The Urus is a Lamborghini anybody could drive, pretty much anywhere.