They’re the craziest crossovers you can buy, but which is the quickest? That’s what Carwow set out to discover when it lined up a Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato against its VW Group cousin, the Porsche 911 Dakar.
Yes, both cars were conceived with loose surfaces in mind, and what we’d love to see someone pit them against each other on a dirt course. But in truth, most of these high-rise supercars are destined to spend their lives on asphalt, so a straight-up drag race is still a valid test.
We’ll let you make your own mind up about which looks the wildest, but in terms of cold hard specs, it’s the Lambo that appears to have the upper hand as the two cars limber up for the race. The Huracan Sterrato is powered by a naturally-aspirated 602 hp (610 PS) 5.2-liter V8, while the Porsche’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat six makes just 473 hp (480 PS).
Related: Fearless Owner Takes His Brand-New Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato Straight To A Dirt Road
The Porsche does fractionally outpoint the Lambo for torque, however, generating 420 lb-ft (570 Nm) to the Italian car’s 413 lb-ft (560 Nm), and although the 911’s 1,605 kg (3,530 lbs) curb weight figure looks lardy next to the Huracan’s 1,470 kg (3,235 lbs), it’s worth remembering that Lamborghini, like Ferrari, quotes ‘dry’ weights. To factor in the mass of the fluids needed to make the car actually move under its own steam you can probably add 100 kg (220 lbs) to the Sterrato’s number, which closes the on-paper gap a little.
Both cars hook up well considering they’re on dirt-biased tires, and for the first few yards of the first race the 911 and Huracan are neck and neck. But then the Lamborghini asserts its power to weight advantage and pulls easily away. Keep watching though because things get very interesting in race two, proving a power advantage is only as good as the driver and the tires delivering it to the pavement.