I've driven ToCa 3 (aka DTM 3 or Race Driver 3) as well - in my case, on the Mac.
GT4 has some visual advantages on Toca, but as a racing game, the former loses out overall. GT's AI is just too awful to make it a good game
, let alone several other utterly moronic aspects of its design (like making the player wait over 1 minute before starting a mission..) GT4 wins out big time in terms of variety and number of cars to drive, though - that's its big plus. 👍
While Toca3's physics are 'arcade with sim-ish leanings' like GT4, it does win out in the physics department - it's just that little bit more slippery, allows more control and doesn't have GT4's built-in "let's have the rear axle stick to make it easier to play" rear-end-stabiliser fudge.
Where ToCa3 (as a pc and Mac game) loses out though is that Codemasters didn't make it moddable at all. There's just barely any add-on stuff available, and that's a real drawback in terms of tracks and cars. Like GT4, you're kind of stuck with what you get, and given the numeric advantage of GT with its oodles of available cars that nullifies any possible advantage there.
That said, compared to a *real* sim, both games lose out.
Besides GPL and a bout of GT4 I've been getting acquainted with GTR2 and its many mods; physics-wise and in terms of visuals, tracks and add-on cars (try the free Civic, GTL or Beetle Cup mods, real fun!) it blows GT4 straight out of the water even though it's an older title.
You need a wheel or at least a set of gamepad thumbsticks to drive it, but after a few minutes in a sim like GTR2, iRacing or Race On you'll know where GT4 is lacking ever so much. 💡
That said, GT4 is five years old by now and "only" a PS2 arcade game - to make it too hard/realistic in terms of driving physics would've limited its appeal to the general gaming public.
Regards, R (GPLRank: -40)