Are there any good Racing RPGs besides ChoroQ?

I've been playing the PS2 ChoroQ game for the past little while, and while there are some obvious design issues, I find myself really enjoying the core gameplay of winning races and upgrading your vehicle to go faster/have better handling/float better in water etc. It's a grind, but instead of navigating menus, you just race. It's really fun!

I briefly searched online and I couldn't find any other racing RPGs aside from the ChoroQ series and some Square game called "Racing Lagoon" which is apparently BAD but IGN gave ChoroQ a 2/10 so maybe reviews were just naive and narrow back in the day.

It really makes me wonder if some indie developer is working on their own modern version, because most racing games these days are just full of brand names and licensed music and "realism". Not dissing the gameplay in those games, I like me some PGR and Forza, but I definitely get tired of that presentation because it makes every racer feel the same. I would like something different without having to resort to Mario Kart, which has basically zero single-player content these days.

So, are there other games in this genre, or do I have to go on Kickstarter and make it myself?

I don't know of any Car-PGs but the first two F1 games from codemasters current stint with the licence, leaned heavily in to the role-playing a driver part of the expirence.

Funny becouse i feel its the opposite.

The Crew perhaps may be to your liking? I havnt played it but from the quicklook it looks to be exactly what you are describing. Winning races and upgrading your car with super arcady handling.

@rethla: The opposite of... huh?

The Crew looks pretty legit. I admit I ignored it due to the publisher and generally hearing that it was no good, but then again I'm playing the 2/10 ChoroQ so I'm pretty comfortable with getting what I want out of a game. I'll probably pick it up when it drops in price.