I did not remove this from inventory, and it's pretty great. I've had more fun with this than Dirt Rally 2.
Most of the stages are great, with many locations, physics are belieavable (asphalt is better than Dirt Rally), the career mode isn't too bad (but you can choose a "season mode" without the team handling BS).
Damage model is good, tire wear is really a factor, and you can really feel if your suspension is going bust, you hear and feel when your breaks aren't working well, you notice the difference in downforce if you crashed the front off, the steering gets wonky if it's damaged, etc.
Weather and weather variation is great, water puddles can be really dangerous when it rains, the feel of the driving really changes during rain, it's not just the same physics with less grip.
Car selection is limited to Junior WRC (FWD), WRC 2/R5 (slower 4WD), WRC (monsters), and only two actually historic cars: Lancia Fulvia Lancia Stratos, both of which required some setup tweaking to feel drivable. There's also VW Polo older WRC model, and a WRC 2 car that was recently homologated but hasn't yet participated in the real thing.
Graphics are ok, and at least they don't abuse the HDR like DR2. DR 2 sounds really great, but the best thing I can say about sound in WRC 8 is it doesn't get on my nerves.
Worst point is that the game has some framerate issues/stuttering occasionally - particularly when there are lots of shadows on the road, or fog.
TL, DR? A video if you prefer, I pretty much agree with his assessment:
