Yes I agree, specially when you're battling against players, because your drifting lines will definitely vary, bumping into other cars and such. However, it's different for time attack, where you can plan your lines right from the start, so acceleration doesn't matter that much.
I think that's why on the dirt racing games especially, I prefer the time trial modes as I'd prefer to ne able to tackle a course the way I want to and find the best lines to get the best times without the inference of others. Track racing is slightly different as I think any racer can go round a circuit maybe 2 or 3 times and already have an idea of where the best racing line is, so the competition is a more challenging factor in that type or racing.
For me, it's the acceleration. Any car is of no use if it is not customized with elements that results in amazing acceleration. Well, control is also an important factor for me but you can control your car if you have a good acceleration and speed.
You can control your car on throttle and acceleration alone coming out of a corner I agree, but entering it requires the suspension and handling to be set up right aswell, and if you don't get those right, you won't even make it into the corner, nevermind out of it.
I always go for control/traction, while almost everyone else goes for speed/acceleration. My reasoning is simple, unless you are playing on a long straight away track, which is very boring so most people don't, speed doesn't really come into play because you're never going to have enough time to get it up to it's max. When you have a race with multiple turns and corners you can risk spinning out so the control is important; I might fall behind every now and then but I always catch up and finish in the top three because the car handles so well around the bend and most people wipe out or crash.
Yup it takes the right balance out of all of them with just minor adjustments on each to suit the play style of whoever is driving. They are all important factors in winning and some are just able to do more with certain aspects driven up.
Speed only takes you so far. It's always the first thing people look at when picking a car. Eventually, you end going for the more balanced car with good handling.
You can always brake hard enough to make it through a turn, but it takes almost a complete stop to do so. Any speed advantage gets negated because of that. You will always need a good handling car to get through turns efficiently.
I think heading into a corner too fast is one of people's usual mistakes (especially on a new game) and so they'll tend to have to keep braking and turn at the same time and that's where time can be lost. Entering a corner at the right speed and on the racing line is vital to getting a good exit, and so being able to get on the power as quickly as possible on the exit of the corner.
