Interview with Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini Technical Director: we made the first prototype of the Huracán Sterrato on a car that was going to be scrapped

A few days before the official presentation of the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, we had the opportunity to chat with Rouven Mohr, Lamborghini's Technical Director. He is one of the architects who have brought this very special car to the market, and it is interesting to know some details about how the project came to be and what this car offers.

When you start to speak Rouven Mohr you realize that he is unequivocally German (he was born in Saarbrücken ) but he has that Latin impetus that makes things live with more intensity than usual in Germans.

How did the idea for this project come about?

It was in 2017 , when I had just arrived at Lamborghini. At that time I was responsible for vehicle development. The idea was born at a dinner with Maurizio, my former boss, Mitja Borkert, head designer, and me after a day of testing with the Urus.

We were philosophizing a bit about how much fun the Urus was when you drove it on gravel, and then we said "imagine one of our supercars on that terrain, it would be even more fun."

After that dinner, I thought we should explore that avenue and decided to salvage one of our durability test cars from scrapping, and build the demo car that still exists on it.

And from there to production? What were the steps?

Mitja did some of the design sketches, Maurizio did the first tests and then we started to present it to the company's management. When Stephan Winkelmann came back to the company, he said that we should bring it to market, that it was a 'cool' car and we had to make it happen.

Now it is a pleasure for me to see that this project that was born in my first stage in Lamborghini is finally reaching the market. It is very special, because Lamborghini is performance but not only that, it is more than that. They are sensations more than the figure from 0 to 100 km/h or the time per lap. Lamborghini is always about emotions and driving experiences. The Sterrato offers a driving experience that no one expects and that has not existed on the market until now.

What is the mission of this car?

Its mission is to convey the feeling of a supercar, in off-road conditions, although qualifying this term. Rather it is a rally type application, high speed off road and on low grip surfaces.

We want to offer something unique that does not exist on the market with the Lamborghini Sterrato. It is the easiest Hurricane to skid in all of history, it is wonderful to play with inertia, weight transfers, etc. It is an experience unlike anything we have experienced to date.

Are there specific driving modes for the Sterrato?

The driving modes are STRADA , which logically seeks normal use on paved roads with the highest level of safety and a standard configuration. It is followed by SPORT , which already seeks high performance and fun but still on paved surfaces and the novelty is the RALLY mode as in the Urus Performante.

The goal of this RALLY mode is to offer driving fun on low-grip surfaces like gravel or even snow.

Has the layout of the car's mechanical elements had to be modified to adapt it to its new type of use?

We have not had to modify the situation of the radiators, engine or transmission, but we have logically changed the design of the bumpers. What we found out during testing is that normal engine air intakes didn't work.

In a normal Huracán they are located on the sides, next to the windows and doors, but we realized that the air that entered when you were driving on dirt tracks was too dirty and obstructed the filters.

That's why we opted to add a top air intake on the roof, which forced us to redesign the entire intake. This is how we get the cleanest air into the engine.

It is not just a high Hurricane, it has been reviewed from the hardness of the suspensions, to the levels of intervention of the electronics, the operation of the ABS, the steering, etc.

Is it going to be a limited production?

Only 1,063 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato are to be made . The story behind the figure is easy to explain. The 10 comes from the number of cylinders in the engine, which is a V10. The 63 is in memory of Lamborghini's birth date in 1963.

Its Porsche cousins ​​have just introduced the 911 Dakar. Were you aware of the development of this car? What differences do you think there are between the two cars?

In the Group we have good collaboration between the brands. In 2018 I think people began to talk internally about this car, and to remember the successes of Porsche in the Dakar and the development of the 911 Dakar. But I honestly believe that the differences between the two cars are very noticeable.

They are two interpretations of sports cars taken off the asphalt, but we do not believe that there is any kind of cannibalization between the two. Ours is heavily marked by the high-revving character of the naturally aspirated V10 engine and its supercar base.

Its sound and its way of pushing at high revs are unmistakable and here we want to take those same sensations off the asphalt. The objective of the Sterrato is not to have very good off-road performance, it is to be the fastest off the asphalt.

Rouven Mohr told us that he had the opportunity to drive this car in Germany during development tests, on a circuit that combines asphalt and gravel. As he told us, if not the best, it has been one of the best driving experiences he has had in his entire life.

He says goodbye to us saying that he hopes to have aroused interest in driving and experiencing the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato , something that can be done in April 2023 when the first units are produced. We take him at his word and reserve the date on the agenda.