Substantially reengineered, a new rear-wheel-drive Lamborghini Huracan made its debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show.

The model, which is to be badged LP580-2, goes on sale in 2016 and features a similar 5.2 litre V10 to its AWD sibling but with slightly less power. Producing 571bhp (down from 602bhp) it is however lighter, its dry weight of 1389kg representing a 33kg reduction compared to the LP 610-4. It nevertheless takes a fifth of a second longer to reach 62mph from rest - Lamborghini is claiming 3.4 seconds for this – and maxes out at 199mph.

There are a few visual changes to distinguish the new model, including revisions to both the front and rear. New air intakes are said to improve the downward pressure on the front axle and the new 19in ‘Kari’ wheels are fitted with Pirelli P Zero tyres specially designed for this model.

Recalibrating the V10’s ECU has reduced the torque to 384lb ft but according to the manufacturer 75% of this figure is available at a mere 1000rpm.

With the weight distributed 40:60 front to rear, the car’s three selectable driving modes - Strada, Sport and Corsa – have been ‘tuned to provide oversteering characteristics’ It is hoped this will silence critics of the ultra-stable handling of the LP 610-4.

Unlike previous rear-drive Lamborghinis, such as the six-speed manual Gallardo LP550-2, the new Huracan retains the standard seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. When it goes on sale next year it will also be the marque’s cleanest model with a (claimed) average fuel consumption of 23.7mpg and CO2 emissions of 278g/km. This compares well with the 290g/km figure for the more powerful AWD model.

According to Lamborghini chief Stephan Winkelmann, “The rear-wheel-drive model fits perfectly into our Huracan family. It’s the purest expression of a Lamborghini to date, and a serious car for serious drivers.”

UK prices have still to be confirmed, but if the quoted figure of €150,000 plus taxes proves accurate customers should expect the LP580-2 to be a tad more affordable than its £180,000 sibling - and as much as £10,000 cheaper than Ferrari’s 488 GTB.

The new model is almost certain to be offered as a Spider, although no date for this has been announced. Winklemann has also talked of more extreme versions of the car but says a manual transmission is not on the way.

“With the Gallardo a lot of those things were not in place,” he says, but “With the Huracan we are in a much better position, because we factored in the whole story when we were doing the initial planning. So yes, there will be much more to come - and that does include more rear-wheel-drive versions.”

The company believes the first of these will enable it to compete more effectively in the ‘sub-$200,000’ supercar class, a category which accounts for almost three-quarters of the market. Lamborghini also insists that while “there are technical reasons why we cannot do a manual…there is also no feedback from customers really wanting this either.”

Winklemann says, “with the four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive, our research says that in this area of the market there will be 55% rear-drive sales between 2015 and 2020. So there are clearly some buyers - younger customers, I think, but also more experienced enthusiast drivers - who want rear-drive. We don’t have the same impression with the manual gearbox compared with the dual-clutch. I can say now: there will not be a manual Huracan.”

He sounds equally adamant when ruling out “plans to go below this price - the $200,000 mark - but expansion at the top end of the Huracan range? It’s possible, for sure.”

This could well be a nod towards a future SV version. Logically this could match the more powerful V10 to the rear-drive chassis, something surely encouraged by the sell-out success of the Aventador SV in both open and closed forms.