Given the stereotypical sim racer is of a certain conservative, change-averse demographic i guess PDs strategy of 'improving' something old wasn't ever going to be without controversy.
Personally I like it a lot, but I don't have any strong emotions towards the old track like the critics do.
Watching videos of the old games I don't think losing the old scenery is a big deal, and this combination of a classic fictional track with 'real' roads/locations is an awesome design concept. But again for some people this is a very emotional thing from the sounds of it. To me this is an overall improvement, and not a negative like I consider the removal of the tree lined section of road on trial mountain to be (which I am guessing was done for performance reasons).
Subjective opinions on the scenery aside, the track layout and racing experience is what really matters in my opinion. And I really don't understand people who say it's nothing like the old, or complain about it being narrow. Looking at the comparison video below it seems as if anything the old version was narrower. And looking at the track maps below the differences are small as well.
I think the turn into the tunnel into the bridge and ensuing chicane is much more interesting than the old layout, and this is probably the only major change. It can make for some interesting racing as it's possible to go around the outside through the tunnel and get the inside line into the chicane. If you decide to fight here, which you will have to do in some cases as it's pretty much the last turn before the straight to the finish line, it is going to cost a lot of time, and people coming from the back can gain a lot. And if it's one thing we've learnt from GT7 it's that tracks with long straights and slipstream lead to the best racing (e.g. Daytona, road Atlanta, le man's daily races to name some). There are also more elevation changes, which i like. Sector 1 is a flowing dream with the view over the ocean, which contrasts strongly with the middle sector where at least in the faster cars you have to be extremely patient on the throttle as you maneuver through the corners. I'm glad I have a wheel and pedals for this as i hate that type of driving on controller, but it is something different to a lot of tracks currently in game, so I think it's a great addition.
Finally, it's worth noting that even if the old track was recreated pixel by pixel it would feel different to the old games due to new physics, and the flow will always be car dependent.
I'm kinda at the point where I enjoy running on the original GT tracks more than the real tracks. I hope they eventually bring back all the rumored original tracks.
