I wanna know if they're any good racing titles out there that aren't published by EA or Gameloft and don't have paidmuim and frustrating money schemes, as asphalt 8 does not suffice for me.
Retro Racing and Reckless Racing 2 are both excellent, and are not timer/energy based free-to-play monstrosities.
Asphalt 6 (the best asphalt. The IAP is completely optional, unlike in 7 and 8. You can get all the cars at a good rate, rather than having to grind) Death Ralley
If you want a standard racer then the best I've seen is still NFS Most Wanted (yeah I know it's EA) If you'll stretch it a bit then in one direction there's The Impossible Road and in the other there's Death Rally
i would say reckless racing and real racing 2(still fire mint) but to be honest I'm enjoying asphalt 8 in general.
I'm still a huge fan of Death Rally, a lot of content in there. Also Tabletop Racing i enjoy, i know it went freemium (Dont know if the premium version is still available) but its still a great game I prefer the overhead Micro Machines type of view rather than Asphalt/NFS games as they're often a hefty download