Really didn't have a huge interest in this game until this excellent write-up and a recommendation from another board member.
I wasn't into WRC 7 at all...I think I got it on sale at some point in the past, but I couldn't even complete the first career rally because the handling felt like trash on my wheel and everything from force feedback to even the camera felt "off". The camera juttered and jumped around way too much in the cockpit view, to where I felt like I couldn't see anything.
I was very skeptical of WRC 8, but after reading this and seeing how much improved it supposedly was over 7, I took the plunge. Wow, what a difference a version makes. Right out of the box, it worked with my wheel, and the force feedback is some of the best I've ever felt in a game. Coming to hairpins, I can spin the wheel, let the car's momentum counter steer for me, and just "catch" it when I want to continue. Same for gravel or snow.
When the controls are excellent, the rest of the game falls into place quickly. I found myself COMPLETELY immersed in the career mode's financial aspects, but I did run into an issue where you could just recruit staff members every time they prompt you. Next think I know I'm -$15,000 in the bank so apparently that's bad to do!
I realized you can fire some team members, so I guess keeping a pair of each role is a good base? Since they need to rest from time to time, it introduces a lot of fun management aspects to it that I hadn't had in a rally game before. The only comparison I had was Dirt Rally (1, not 2.0, as I didn't play 2.0 much but I played a LOT of 1), which was just race after race and nothing managerial at all. I enjoy this new aspect quite a bit.
But bottom line, this thing is phenomenal. Especially considering the hate I had for WRC 7, this title really surprised me.