Aside from all this console talk, if you really are into racing games. Get PGR2 and rent it for a week. It takes a day or two to learn to handle the cars but it is the most realistic racing game I have played. The traction system is by far the best I have ever seen implemented. Brake too hard, the cars brakes will lock up. Brake to soon and you loose momentum through the apex. Hammering the pedal down from the apex causes wheel spin and traction-loss. I autocross occasionaly and it is the only game that comes close to hammering down the percision required to race well. I agree the first PGR was terrible, I rented it and only played for a couple hours before getting tired with the game but iv played atleast 100 hours of PGR2 now and still haven't completed all the challenges or grown tired of it.
Games ranking:
http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/562117.asp