For me AC EVO is kinda mixed feelings.
AC1 is like an old, comfortable sofa that you have completely accustomed to. THAT is how a sim should feel, that's how the tyre grip should feel, that's how the car should behave.
Hopefully they're not changing too much of that and build the physics around that good solid foundation. What ain't broken, don't fix it.
For me graphics improvements and eyecandy are meaningless. AC1 looks good enough with all the mods. It's all about the physics and FFB which are SO good on AC1. I go and play AMS2, rF2, even ACC but I always come back to AC1. It's just so much better.
I also hope they'll stick with the structure that you can edit so much stuff on a Notepad. What makes AC1 amazing is that there's ALWAYS a way to make ai better and faster by simply adjusting the car.ini, engine.ini, etc. That is so good for me as an offline player.
The ai is of course the biggest issue. For me it's the backmarkers / QF slow lap cars. Make blue flags actually mean something. Everything else is good on AC1. The ai is pretty good when the track ai is properly done and the cars well built but it's insane that backmarkers race you and even knock you out sometimes. That HAS to be fixed... it's a MAJOR issue. Also you should be able to adjust ai pitting strategy and clearly define how many times they're going to pit and when. That'd be amazing for me who creates and plays full seasons. Now there's too much randomness which can't be properly controlled with fuel tweaks. It works 90% but there's that 10% randomness... cars pit at times when it makes no sense... like making completely unnecessary 2nd pitstop in the last lap, etc.