It doesn't have to be a sim, it just has to be comparable to driving an actual car. If there is no skill needed to play this game, then there is no aspiration, no point to playing it. If they move the slider closer to the sim side (not all the way), at least after playing it for 3 years, most of you would be better drivers in the real world. If you try to take a 90 degree corner at 100kph in real life, you won't be here tomorrow (and unfortunately, stuff like that happens all too often).
There is no need to be a professional racing driver to play this game, but by the time you finish, maybe you might be an ameture one. :) Balance is obviously needed here, and is being sought. After all, turning driver aids off should mean 'use the brakes or crash'. If I drift around the north-east part of O'ahu in TDU1 with aids off in Hardcore mode you get a sense of achievement. 'I did that', not some computer algorithm that makes the car feel like its on train tracks. That's all TDU2 needs to make me happy. I drive in real life every day, so I shouldn't have to learn how to drive in TDU2, because that's how different the physics are.
That's just my 2c - hopefully the rest of you see that as a balanced opinion. I don't care how arcady the physics are with Driver aids turned on full, you can have that if you want, even if that means you're at the top of all the leaderboards. I'm just happy to cruise around with friends.
Shift is alright in my books, just not enough tracks to hold my attention. The main reason people play sims still is usually due to the modding ability (sounds familiar). :)