Not nearly as bad as people make it sound, the driving model doesn't suite everyone, but the career mode makes up for it
The career mode is IMO much more interesting than in the competing games. The player has to build himself a team, this means you need AI teammates and lots of different cars to be able to compete in every race gategory. That is what makes Juiced so much more interesting than for e.g NFS. The cars are this game's strong point, each car actually handles differently from each other, you can also see detailed specs like horsepowers ect. as you upgrade your cars. The choise of cars is wide(50), from small french cars to huge american muscle cars with 1000hp. Too bad the Dodge Viper is too superior to any other car in the game, once you get one, winning races becomes way too easy. But luckily the career mode includes "pink slip" races, where one mistake can cost you the Cruise missile which you call Viper.
The most fun aspect of Juiced is the team racing mode where your AI teammates will race with you against another team, and naturally you have to provide each of your teammates with a good car, you also need to set their aggression levels during race, too high and they spin, too low and they are left behind. AI racers also gain experience and get better. And for e.g to race in a teamtournament that is only for USA made cars, you need an american car for each of your teammembers. You can also bet money on the races, or have your AI teammate do the racing. This works fine on Drag Racing; give your teammate a Viper and bet money on him, then watch him gain experience, a victory and some easy cash. In longer races watching AI drivers would be boring, so better do most of the racing yourself.
The AI opponents all have personalities, they aren't the same faceless machines you race against in most games. In Juiced they will get angry when you ram them, this will cost you their respect. You gain respect by doing well in races, different teams appreciate different kind of races. Once you have their respect you can challenge them for their car in "pink slip" race. the career mode is very long and keeps you busy for quite a while.
The driving model is quite challenging, it's relatively easy to do mistakes, still it has arcade feel to it. But I like the way crashing walls and other cars is done in Juiced, you have to pay for the repairs, and crashing competitors will cost you also, in dollars and in respect. Much better than the "mash everything on your way" style most arcade racing games are known for, no leaning to walls in this one.
Graphics aren't on the same level as in the other competing games. But they still aren't bad in any sense. Luckily the soundtrack is good and the other sound effects do their job also. Also the game interface is clear and easy to use, and you don't have to cruise around looking for tuning shops ect. The track desing could had been more interesting tho.
Despite all the good things Juiced has, it's competition especially on consoles will push in into oblivion and for a good reason. If you didn't especially like the NFS series on PC you should give Juiced a shot, but even tho the game is quite good, the driving model won't suite everyone and will at first feel strange to everyone, that's why I recommend trying out the demo first.