Yes, it actually makes sense if you think about it, we can be selfish and want everything from the start, but considering this game has to get the money back and considering who will be it's biggest customers (casuals and kids), then it makes sense. I'm ok with that, i just hope i don't have to play the carreer mode like 40 hours to unlock all the realistic stuff.
And besides, i'm positive that Online, you can have all that right from the start, meaning the race host or however that works, can set all the settings as realistic as possible.