It's not *THAT* bad, in fact, it's quite good.
Pros:
Wide variety of customization, as usual
Quite a lot of cars to choose from
Nice graphics, good balance between looks and performance
Cons:
Too acrade style, car sim fans might not like it
A bit boring in the opening
Okay, people who tell you this game isn't good, just because they either don't like the handling, or "expect" GRID car physics in an arcade racing game. GRID is a great game, but they aren't the same, GRID is a "simulation racing game", this is an "acrade racing game."
Story is simple, you play as an unnamed cop, then go undercover into the racing gangs to investigate on a smuggling thing or something. You will get an old 180SX, but don't worry, you will be ditching it right away. People who quit the game at this point, is simply not smart enough to figure what to do next.
Yeah, the handling is funny, you can do a lot of amazing moves easily, you might feel a bit wierd, it needs some time to get used to it. Ididn't actually count he number of car this game have, roughly 40-50, including Japanese imports, US muscles, and European supercars too, they are divided into 4 "tiers", 1 are the best and 4 are the worst.
I heard that some people are experincing "unstable" frame rates, I don't have this problem my self, maybe they don't have a good CPU and graphic card, I suppose.
In the end, I would like to say that, but you need patience as well as proper hardware to truly enjoy it.