May I say somethin'? Thanks!
Well, I will say that both sides of this debate are wrong and right at the same time. The truth is something in between the arcade and the hard core mode. Sadly I've never driven anything with more than 100BHP so I couldn't tell which is more realistic but I guess any of these two modes are equally unrealistic, just at two opposite sides of un-realism....
the perfect sim mode would contain all the best parts of both modes and then some more.
The sim game which got the best driving physics that I know is Richard Burns Rally, both on tarmac and gravel surface. That is naturally my opinion, maybe someone else thinks different. Someone will say that LFS is better on that field, maybe he's right.
Anyway, both modes in TDU were made to be FUN, not to be an actual driving simulator. End of story. For some, the arcade mode is more fun, for others is vice versa. It's strictly a matter of oppinion.
btw I think both modes got exactly the same braking distance. Try and u'll see I could be right.;)