I knew you were British before I even looked at your domain.
Here's the deal;
Point #1 - You need to learn proper grammar. You should HAVE written that I 'should HAVE' found out about it first. Maybe you're right - I should HAVE checked out what people who were using it in the jolly old UK were saying instead of reading what the developers had to say about it. They claimed the graphics engine was going to be much improved over GP3. I purchased GP2, GP3, and GP4. This one is disappointing and it's buggy as Hell.
My machine's performance is awesome with every single application I have thrown at it, except this one. 39 fps is disappointing when I get like 90 in Quake 3. And framerate is subjective, since this game slows down the game action to keep a decent framerate. My PC is absolute top-of-the-line in every way, and there is no excuse for GP4 to perform the way it does (and for the menus to be buggy). All I can say is every other game runs perfectly on it, and it is not a configuration issue. To be required to upgrade to a GeForce 4 just to play this game is ridiculous.
Point #2 - The feel IS crap. It has less feel than GP3 or GPL. I have a Thomas steering wheel. This game feels like a bad arcade game, not a sim. See above for my rationale on the graphics. I have an Audigy sound card, and run a Harman-Kardon amp in Dolby Pro Logic out the front channels through a Bose Acoustimass speaker system as well as EAX rears. Although the engine sound is good, the sound levels are inconsistent. All my drivers are latest rev.
All I can imainge is that you have low standards. I , for one, expected better out of this stuio and software architect. What I have read in this forum leads me to believe I am not alone in being disappointed in what they have turned out, and that they have not fixed it after all this time.
Enjoy your tea