I don't think the console racers are not as good as PC racers due to laziness but rather limitations. A good comparison is take the Corvette C6R onto Road America in Forza 4 or at Sebring, then try the same in iRacing. There is no real comparison, one is very much arcadeish and the other is very much ... real.
Left have you driven a real Corvette at Road America?
When I see someone post that a sim is real it always makes me laugh. There is no physical danger in sim racing so it will NEVER be real.
I really want to try Iracing because it has tracks that I have been on real life and it would be fun to see how close they match up. That being said I would never say a game is real no matter how close the physics are.