^^^ At the very least proper summer tires are a must for this car.
meh...LSD would do far more...i have no idea how much that costs...$300??...$500??...$800??...i think it would go a long way on this car, which is $40k...if it's $500 for the LSD, put it on there and make the $40,500...it would make a really big difference and remove a lot of the "buts" from the conversations about it.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be a good idea but the reality is modern cars are designed for an average buyer among a target group. And that average buyer will more likely be interested in Android integration and self-driving features than what an LSD stands for. He or she are not going to race it off every traffic light but may appreciate extra highway passing power from 80 to 120 kph for example. They are spread-sheet shoppers, not enthusiasts and want the longest list of superior features for a reasonable, or better yet, best of the segment price or monthly payment.
i realize that, and that's likely a solid argument against AWD (much more expensive, adds weight, extra driveline loss, etc)...but an LSD isn't that expensive (i'm assuming) and would really help improve the cars handling when accelerating from a start...you can see in a few video reviews, the torque steer can get pretty bad (as expected, that's a lot of power through a FWD set up)...just feels like a missed opportunity to hit the bullseye here...pretty much every review speaks quite highly of the car, and the only thing that detracts is the awful torque steer which is somewhat defeating the purpose of putting the HiPo engine in there in the first place...as i said, i'm not saying Kia should have added the LSD and ate the cost, just add the $500 (or whatever) to the price of the car...if it's $39,995 or $40,495, it won't matter...it's "$40k" regardless...and since most people purchase using the 84 month finance option, it amounts to maybe $7/month.