To those disappointed about graphics, i never understood the hype PS4 GT was getting in response to Forza and Driveclub and Project Cars. If your so concerned about 60fps and 1080p, this is what you get. Its no different from what other devs have to sacrifice for that.
It should not have been unexpected, you did it to yourselves.
That's without even taking into account that Polyphony hasn't been top of the line for a while now. And i guess we can give them some out in regards to this being a spinoff title, but that's a very weak excuse
Eh, I dunno...
Sure, there are areas where PD's been dropping the ball on past iterations (PS2 assets, damage modelling, 60fps lock, sound, etc) but they were also demonstrating things that nobody else on similar hardware was last-gen. Forza was running better, and arguably playing better, and wasn't using a bunch of car models from 2001... but at the same time, it had no night racing at all, let alone fully dynamic lighting (which it still doesn't have today), it also had no weather, and GT5's smoke game was ridiculous for the time. GT5 and 6's graphical lows were far, far lower than Forza's, but it's highs were also higher... which is why in comparison threads, overly flattering GT5/6 gifs are constantly posted in a semi-serious "holds it own against the current gen" manner. It was easy to put any of the graphical shortcoming down to the limitations of the hardware, which would logically be alleviated this gen. Gran Turismo lighting + PS4 simply seemed like something that you basically can't fuck up.
With that said though, this seems far more GTHD than GT5, so I wouldn't put too much stock into how this one currently looks. For all we know, it looks identical in VR.
I do agree that any expectations of Driveclub getting dethroned, whilst the game runs at 60fps were a tad ridiculous though. Superior art (i.e. lighting) is pretty much the only way for GT to punch above its weight there. It even has a ton of inherent disadvantages by being set primarily on bland race tracks, whilst Driveclub had completely fictional tracks, that employ a ton of trackside detail that's designed specifically to look appealing. A wide patch of grass is going to look worse than a road lined closely on both sides by tall trees, bushes.
Really, it's Project Cars that's acting as a comparison point, as it seems to fully check off Gran Turismos feature-list (and more) whilst looking better currently. It's pretty much the first time we're not comparing apples and pears, like GT and Forza always have been.