Whether you are playing a rigorous traffic sim to learn the rules of the road, or zooming out in BeamNG to watch a chaotic pileup unfold from the clouds, the 2D view offers a perspective that the third dimension simply cannot compete with.
They use Unity 3D engines but often employ locked cameras that simplify the action into a 2D plane. They prove that you don't need a $3000 PC rig to have fun with physics. They capture the feeling of drifting—the pendulum motion of the car—without the complexity of tire temperature modeling. It is driving distilled to its most fun elements.