I really don't like racing sims. I don't know why, I just find them very boring and only catering to people who have a fetish for cars and the parts that go on cars, and not the gamer. 

I'm a big racing fan however. Burnout paradise, Need for speed most wanted (2005, recently bought 2012 however), the motorstorm franchise, and pretty much every Mario Kart game would be my games of choice for the genre. I put a lot of hours into my racing games over the years. 

As far the sims go, I've tried to put an effort forth to enjoying them. With all the sales the series has gotten, I figured Gran turismo would be a good starting place. I borrowed from a friend and played for a day before giving it back. Honestly it wasn't even remotly fun. It felt like a chore to win races. 

Same thing for Forza, to a lesser extent. I feel Microsoft has tried to make the Forza series a bit more accesible to the casual racing fans, but in the end the gameplay just doesn't do it for me.

Am I not understanding how to play racing sims? 

You like "unrealistic" racing games (Burnout, Need for Speed, Mario Kart, etc).  No shame in that.

If everyone enjoyed every single genre type, all genre types would sell well. I'm pretty sure this is a simple case of your tastes just not being met by that specific genre type.

Yep, I prefer arcade racers too. I would much rather drift around a corner in Ridge Racer or ram some traffic in Burnout than trundle along in Gran Turismo. Nothing wrong with that at all :)

ModNation racers

Some people like Mario Kart and Need for Speed, others like Forza and Gran Turismo. Some like all of them, so really it just depends on what you like regardless of what other people think.

Im the exact same way, gran turismo never appealed to me but i can play mario kart or NFS underground for hours

Because its a boring genre?

Actually, you can do that in GT also just have to do it right.  You can also wall ride.  There are cheap tactics but usually driving like you should has better results.  However,  you can bounce off the computer cars in some turns and actually do better than driving the way you should.

Anywho, you're not alone PS3-Sales. There's plenty of us who cannot comprehend how to have fun with that genre. I've given up on that path long ago. There is no shame in knowing what your heart wants: actual fun.

But I do have to give the racing sim fans credit, they certainly know how to argue with one another. Just take a look at a Forza or GT game wall. Fantastic stuff.