Even the base RBR makes just about every other game look like it was designed by a kid that was tired of crashing and thus invented a special code to prevent it. It is THAT realistic...
I see what you are saying, but I don't think it's that simple really. Now I only have the original game, which I still play once in every while, so I cannot comment on the improvements made via the various mod versions, as I don't have a gaming PC. However, I rarely see someone talking about this game with such passion anymore - most posts here, lets face it are 'how do I do/install this or that?' or 'how can I get this to work with that?' type comments, and then it falls silent for an age until the next similar post.
Whilst a good few folks appreciate a die-hard sim rally game, very few it would seem actually play it that much. The more accessible and recent rally games get more attention now,
despite the concessions made for the casual gamers out there - which is I suppose the choice that the various devs have had to make at some point.
I'm sure they wanted to make it as realistic as possible, within the coding parameters on the PS3 or 360 apparently - yet they also see how many people actually stay onboard with RBR. So I don't think it's like they are kids who are tired of crashing. Also creating a game back then was a different thing to the larger demands and diminished returns of nowadays.
Even with that said, maybe with the next-gen there will be the capability to choose how hardcore you'd like your game to be. Even so, that would depend on how long such a mode would take to develop alongside the mode that would actually sell the game and pay their wages so that they can all live and code another day.
I'm not criticising the game, or your passion - like I said, both are good - it's just something that I noticed after following this thread for a year or two; something that needed saying.
...And yes, as noted above this post, if you want top-line graphics over gameplay, gtfo. I mean, how many really cares if that tree is 2D or 3D made of a bazillion polygons when you're coming up to a fast righthander at 140+km/h on gravel?
Very true, which is why I don't mind the graphics of the current WRC series by Milestone as much.