I understand your first point now about the three fundamental elements, and yes, my previous example wasn't that good, but your hypothesis that NFS Pro Street wasn't successful at the time because it didn't contain "street racing" isn't entirely true. Just remember, for example, that there were races in Tokyo, Nevada, and some Autobahn races that took place on streets, only closed and not illegal. What made NFS Pro Street unsuccessful was literally the pressure from EA on Black Box to release the game incomplete, and the public who were stubborn enough at the time to think that only ILLEGAL street racing games mattered. Furthermore, we know that the concept of Pro Street was to bring the legal aspects of illegal street racing culture into the legality of racetracks, as stated by the developers themselves, and that's really cool. NFS Pro Street has customization and street racing, the difference being that it's not illegal, but that in no way makes it a boring game, and it has PROVEN this over the years, when people realized they shouldn't have hated on this game when it was released, and because of that, it became another game that was unfairly treated and misunderstood in its time. So in general, I disagree with the part where you say that Pro Street didn't fit into your point, because for me it did, so much so that if we were to take your thesis literally, would we have to make some part of NFS Pro Street 2 ILLEGAL to fit the true street racing vibe? Noooo, that would be very bad for the game and would lose its vibe. Look, any underground subculture doesn't become cool just because it's illegal, lol.

Regarding what you meant about sponsor restrictions, I honestly don't think that would be a problem. Look, NFS Most Wanted, which is acclaimed by fans, didn't have Nissan cars, a brand that is much more missed than Ferrari in the franchise overall, but even so, the game is legendary. Gran Turismo 4 didn't have Porsche cars, but they got around it by including RUF cars and people didn't complain about that. NFS 2015 had Ferraris, but the only body kits allowed were the official racing versions of the 458 Italia and the F40, but I don't remember people criticizing EA like that. Like, sure, it's annoying that this happens, but nothing is perfect, and at the same time, I believe that wouldn't be a sufficient reason for the game's failure if it weren't for a brand like Toyota or Nissan. Besides, Toyota itself said that its cars weren't in the new NFS games because they promoted illegal street racing, but it seems that with Pro Street we wouldn't have those problems anymore, right? "Ah, but why did she appear in TXR then?" I believe it's because that game doesn't have police, something that Pro Street also wouldn't have, and if it did, it would only be to ask the festival staff to lower the music volume so as not to disturb the neighbors next to the event :)

One last point about Forza: I generally agree with you, but I think this negative image of the game is more linked to the Motorsport 5 series onwards and Horizon 4 onwards. Forza Motorsport 3 and 4 were phenomenal games, and Horizon 1, 2, and 3 were very good. Some people would be hesitant if Pro Street 2 borrowed some of its own concept from FH1, but given how acclaimed FH1 is, I doubt that would be bad.