I played Sega rally 2 once in the arcade long ago and I shyed away the DC version because all of the crap it got. Finally got around trying the DC version and I was actually blown away how good it looked. The frame rate seems unstable(25 to 45) but above 30 for the most part. The car models seem the same except the tires are really simplified.
Now here is where I think my opinion differs. The lighting looks way superior to the model 3 version. For starters the track actually had lighting wasn't just a constant light like in the arcade version. The cars exhaust actually lights up the track and car. And while it makes the game look dark the over lighting is just way more dynamic.
Went on YouTube just to compare the model 3 version and yeah it throws around way way more polygons but track lighting is almost non existant except for the night stage for the model 3. I think with a steady 30 fps and less distance clipping the DC version looks way better.