Need for Speed Shift 1&2 were more Gran Turismo-ish, along with Pro Street, don't know for sure how the graphics are, didn't have a good card when I was playing them. I'm waiting to get a racing game until I get a G25 or G27 wheel, every other wheel I've tried I hated, but I've wanted one of those since they came out years ago... Brother has one on his PS3 with Gran Turismo, and though I'm not a Gran Turismo guy, I love playing on the wheel, I'm more into the older NFS, Underground 1&2 were my fav's, but Carbon had some nice features, MW was ok, and there was another I liked quite a bit, but I'm drawing a blank...
All the NFS games, other than the new Hot Pursuit, and Rivals had a lot of customization options, but most are more arcady.