That video did look real, I'll give you that, LOD issues aside ( which don't really matter in this case anyways). Although it is just me who thinks that GT5 reall doesn't look all that impressive? The lighting on the cars might be, but everything else seems rather dull, and the world empyt.
But in order to paraphrase what you said: GT5 can handle these kinds of collisions rather well, but not harder crashes. As you just said: "The game will never let your car become a completely engineless dud".
From a simulation standpoint, there really shouldn't be any reason why the game won't do that. Sometimes even after what might appear to be a gentle crash, your engine's too busted up to move. Or you lose a wheel or two.
To use Richard Burns Ralley as an example, last time I tried, it was unplayable on Linux because randomly after some time, most terrain objects will stop being rendered. And in that game, you will and do lose your engine if you smash into a rock or a tree.
Might be personal bias, but if you are already considering yourself a sim, and you already realistically simulate minor damage, why not go finish the walk and simulate all possible damage that you can think of?
[quote="Regulus"]Damage or no damage, 80% of people will leave the lobby the first time they get spun around and realize they're at the back of the field.[/quote]
I dunno about you, but I'll go down fighting. Plus I've read that GT5 doesn't penalize you for what would disqualify your butt in real life, so that always helps in getting back some time, no?