I've been struck by the level of negativity on this and the Steam forums, like I've never seen before on a sim. There's more than likely a majority of people like me who generally don't post, who are very happy. Developers and their producers need a little praise too, or this effort will probably fail like the last. And I don't want to see that.
So having said that, the mature among us could start by talking about what we like in this new version. And then offer one constructive criticism we'd hope to see improved.
I'll start out. According to Steam, I played the original for 116h, only stopped once this one was released. My initial impression was that I loved the new Challenges. The water dynamics were very different and caused me problems, but they felt more realistic and I enjoyed the challenge. From the old SpinTires, I've always enjoyed the thrill of trying to cross Flood. But the depth indicators on the map were a much welcomed surprise. I like to play Hardcore, so next on my list was the much improved shifter pattern. I intentionally play this as a sim, so I loved the addition of the in-car view. Among the surprise additions were the see-through features, like the fuel sloshing in the cistern. And even high grass getting caught in the wheel wells. I've always been a fan of attention to detail to improve immersion, very nice! My only original gripe was trying to use the steam overlay, and the mouse acting all crazy, and within a week, that is fixed. Clearly this isn't the old Spintires.
My only constructive criticism so far, is with a Logitech wheel/pedals. The old Spintires ramped up the gas pedal slower, and it seems as in real life (despite the name), you get better traction when you don't spin your tires when nearly stuck. On the PC Mudrunner, the pedal feels a lot more like an on/off switch now, and I'm having to use the transmission to limit it instead.
Please keep up the good work, I was very excited to see maybe this game isn't dead after all. Hope this thread will bring out the more mature among your customer base.