IMO the package is what matters, and if pCARS is getting that wrong for some people that is a valid point of view IMO.
Mhh...
. Which SMS game so far is bad as a whole package though? In fact the combination of physics, graphics, sound, content (car, track, career mode, performance tuning) and AI is what made me to start to play and mod Shift back then.
That's the least at least I would expect it to be a solid package and in multiplatform development that's usually also one of the priorities. But of course every developer got other priorities.
For me rFactor and LFS feel arcade, similar to GT5 without the stupid sticky tyres. Designed to be fun and accessible but not really a proper sim.
The good thing in LFS is how FR road cars behave on input of steering, throttle, brake and clutch in most driving conditions (even rallycross tracks with worn gravel surface work not that bad). For me that's one of the most important things and also shows the qualities of the physics engine, although I'm aware that many sim racers prefer pure race cars & tracks.
Well, the online part is surely made to be accessable and the offline content isn't that good except for hotlapping.
"Arcade" for me is classic arcade games like Daytona, Scud Race and so on
. You can't use real (or any) set-ups and can't use most real driving techniques either. I can't enjoy them now as much as back then though, and that also goes for modern arcade-ish racing games.