I really like GTR and GTL, never liked rF though (just doesn't look right).
But it was the same with GTR and GTL, when it was new, i really liked it, the sound, the cockpits, the nice real tracks, the possibility to drive over the curbs
, etc.
GTR came before S2, so S1 wasn't really a competitor, GTR had all the nice features, tire wear, pitstops, fuel consumption..
But at some point i always came back to LFS. I guess because it's just so "simple".
You click on the lfs icon and 1 minute later you are on the server. And it's so easy to organize a race, change the track, restart, set the grid.
all that is not possible with those simbin games. the checking of the copy protection alone lasts almost 1 minute.
you need a hi-end machine to run the dedicated server (if there is one), you can't just restart the race, move someone in the grids, and then all those bugs.
So at some point i was always happy to come back to my lfs, because it just works