What are negative reviews talking of? Rubberbanding generally in racing games is the effect of cars getting an advantage like a speed boost once they fall behind. Generally talking about racing game design of all racing games I have played in my life I remember two cases:

1. racing games where there is no rubber banding so the first car gets into the lead more and more and the pack behind it blocks and rams into each other slowing themselves down. This is the unfun one for me. If I'm part of the pack I have no option to win anymore unless the first car fails decisively, all my skill cannot turn the tide, I'm without any incentive to go on with the race to win unless the first car is driven by a total idiot. And if I'm the player in the lead I don't feel skilled knowing that I have the advantage of no disturbance unlike the others who must cope with that handicap. I don't know about you, but I don't like winning easily, this just doesn't feel rewarding.
   
2. racing games where there is rubber banding like Mario Kart, so players who have made not optimal input earlier on the track still have a chance to win. This is the fun one for me for obvious reasons. You can still make a comeback if you perform well, there is the challenge you can accept testing your skills and if you're skilled enough you'll be rewarded with a sweet win. That's how I like racing games.

For me the rubberbanding is not a bad thing but a good thing, a feature of the game which enhances the gameplay experience! In Mario Kart they made the rubberbanding feature by giving players who fell behind get better items. In Hotshot Racing they realized rubberbanding with the slipstream mechanic. Every car has a slipstream behind it, a lack of air due to the car in front having pushed away the air. The slipstream is about 6 car lengths long and gives cars which directly follow the path a speed boost. This is physically correct, so the slipstreaming mechanic even makes the game more realistic! This means, that the pack can be faster together than a single car trying to increase the lead and set off. Grand Tour cycling know slipstreaming, seasonal moving birds know slipstreaming. It's part of the game and this rule is the same for all. Do bots cheat when they use slipstreaming? No, because this mechanic can be used by all in the same way. It's NOT like bots get a speed boost just because they fall behind or because they're bots. They get a speedboost because they use the slipstream which is part of the game and therefore fair.

So is the gameplay like that #1 always changes?! Not necessarily, no, even though there is slipstream mechanic, you can set off off the pack and get in the far lead, even on the hardest difficulty setting.

Difficulties can be compared to Mario Kart's 50cc 100cc 150cc (cylinder capacity) which gives the cars better motors. I have to say that the first two difficulty settings Normal=50cc and Hard=100cc are like the tutorial for the real game which is Expert mode=150cc. Expert mode feels like the game was designed with this speed in mind, but was too hard to get into from the start so they made slower modes before it.

People complain that nothing of your skill matters, but only the last round due to rubber banding. They probably haven't played any one round in Expert mode. I couldn't keep up with the pack on Expert and didn't even reach the last lap before I learned the mechanics of this game better. Knowledge and skill definitely matter very much here!

The essential mechanic in this game is drifting. It is made SO good! Feels super good to drift in the cars. Use the handbreak to get into a drift. Or if you turn too much with too much speed you get into a drift. Again, this is realistic. Also every car has different drift parameters where you really notice and feel that this car behaves different and this is enhaces the game experience!

Every car can use boost once the meter is filled enough. The boost meter fills with drifting and using slipstream. So using these mechanics is rewarded. Drifting makes you slower slightly since you are basically braking with your rubber tyres (and the handbreak), but you can cut corners better with it, so it has a use of its own besides the boost meter filling. Still drifting is rewarded with boost meter, which makes drifting essentially important in this game. These are simple but ingenious game design choices in my view. Further crashing into the sides of the track is punished by losing boost meter depending on the amount of deceleration of the crash, so there is no exploiting track sides for a better time like in Need For Speed. Again, very clever in my opinion. This game is designed so that playing skillful is the best way to win and this is a big positive in my book. Speaking of good game design there is also the checkpoints, which not only serve as a time comparison, but give you more time until your timer runs out. No worries, the timer on you is not stressful or limiting the fun. Checkpoint timers ensure you cannot fall endlessly behind making you feel awfully lost alone at the end. They are an indicator for that if you keep falling behind too much, you should consider first getting better on the lower difficulty modes.

Every race track has its own music track!

I loved this game from the start to finish for its over the top characters and interesting gameplay mechanics. I 100%ed it in 25 hours.

Only negatives I can think of is that there are no risk/reward shortcuts like other fun racers have them and that the last two achievements take a grind of several hours to get, but that is just nitpicking. Very recommended!