It would have been better if you mentioned what consoles you own for us to offer options for a better answer.
I've only played a few racers from this generation: Burnout Paradise and Test Drive Unlimited. And both those titles are available on 360 and a few other platforms. Test Drive Unlimited has a bigger map than Burnout Paradise, but Burnout is Burnout is Burnout. You like it or you don't or one plays something else.
Good luck finding Midnight Club: Los Angeles, haha. It's a tricky one to find.
Are you racing with "wheel usage" ?
List of my racing game experience:
TDU, Burnout: Paradise, Burnout 1 & 2 for the Gamecube, F-Zero SNES & Gamecube, Star Wars Podracer, Super Bombad... , Vigilante 8, Diddy Kong Racing, various Marion Kart, some GTA races online, LEGO Racers (PC & N64)
Also not a race game, but BloodWake had its moments.