PixlBit

Only one I can think of is Euro Truck Simulator 2, which is excellent if you haven't played it. Outside of that... maybe Spintires if you drowning in mud.

Actually ETS2 doesn't look like a bad option. Not a big fan of trucks, but it looks like you can do some scenic driving in there.

If you have a PS2, "Road Trip" is a surprisingly fun gem.

Looks a little bland, but I may get an .iso to try it out. Thanks for the suggestion.

No. Well, The Crew seemed decent, but I imagine it's not your style necessarily. Story felt like a Fast and Furious (the first one) rip off and there's nothing amazing about it. But it is open world and deent looking.

The CRew doesn't sound too bad. According to Wikipedia is was praised for its world. Don't care about any story.

Demo's free on PS4. 

Hmmm.  I don't think so yet for this generation.  But there's a few for last gen, like Burnout: Paradise and I think there's an Xbox one from their Forza series that's open world racing, forget it's name.  If you look it up, I'm sure you'll find it though.  

I did play Paradise. I should clarify that by open road I don't mean open world where you're criss-crossing a persistent area. I'm thinking of something linear with a start point and an end, then you move to the next state or country. Think Road Rash.

I've always been curious about the Driver series. The last one on consoles was Driver: San Francisco. 

I've heard a lot of good things about that game 

Driver games are more like GTA. They are good, but I just want a more traditional (i.e. linear) open road (not world) experience.

I played Mayhem 3D recently, but that's a crash racing/destruction derby game, prob not what you're looking for. I've always been curious about that game Blur. I've heard it's pretty good. 

Forza Horizon was pretty good. It was open world, but had courses too. Not sure how the second one panned out.

Looked it up. Seems like it fits the bill, but I don't own a 360.  Damn exclusives.

I'm not that into racing games but I thought F2P 'The Crew' on PS4 was alright, considering its free. I didn't like that I had to upgrade my car to get better handling, but I assume most driving games are like that now anyway, even Mario Kart 8, so I can't fault it for doing what everyone else does. It's got a story and side quests like an MMO if you like that kind of driving game?

I just want to drive through scenery.  I love those moments in driving games where you have gotten so good that you leave the competition in the dust and you're just cruising and enjoying the ride.

There is Midnight Club LA on the PS3. Most of the races are one lap deals, but there are a couple of lap races. Burnout Paradise is similar. Both games are open world where you see the start points for races. They are similar to The Crew. Also there is Split Second and Ridge Racer Unbound where they are lap races you can blow up sections to change the course. 

As for games that are similar to Outrun I realy can't name anything similar to it on this gen or last gen games. 

Is MC all urban terrain, as in nothing but buildings, steel and concrete, or do you get to drive through some of the more picturesque locales in LA?

Its a mix of all the areas of LA so you get some races through the hills, downtown, South Central, and by the beach.