My opinion is basically wait and see. on TDU1's launch many regarded the physics as horrible too. we just got used to it. Personally to me, the arcade physics on TDU are repulsive, and besides the odd run of the speed challenge for some money i never even ventured back to arcade after hardcore came out. you just get used to awful physics to the point they don't bother you, prime examples would be saints row and just cause
from the TDUCk playtest (still don't have the game) all I can say I wanted were:
ability to skip cutscenes, rather than just trying to cram terrible dialogue down our throats
tweaked physics, akin to proper hardcore mode
ability to turn off your phone/story progression, like you can do in GTA IV
besides the physics, these suggestions would be really, really simple to do I imagine. and when eden released hardcore mode, they proved they are more than capable of making big changes like handling too.