NF1 I CommG:forza 2 is the best racing game for consoles and far better than PGR regarding racing itselve. Racing in the middle of a city is not real, there is only a few races in cities around the world. Forza is a simulator, and forza players prefer proper tracks. The game is far from stupid.
No, far worse regarding racing "itselve". Forza 2 has lots of cars, they look pretty, and they feel more like driving an actual car, but unfortunately that means that the racing is clunky and boring, for which reason I passed it up in favor of PGR4. Even driving the fastest cars available in the Forza 2 demo, I never felt like I was really moving more than thirty or forty MPH, no matter how fast the spedometer read. The sense of actual speed is just lost in Forza. Speed aside, realistic racing just isn't that fun.
If I want some practice for a real-world race, I'll practice on Forza. If I want to have fun racing, I'll play PGR.