For me, Codemasters are the quiet achievers of driving games. They make really high quality games without gimmicks, without any 'wow' factor. Just basic, solid racing games.
Take Dirt 3, their new game. It's just a rally game. No power-ups, nothing flashy, weird or gimmicky. Just down-home rally driving. As such it probably won't attract anyone who isn't already into the sport. But if that's what you want, it'll do you right.
Codemasters. No one seems to rave over them, but every single one of their racing games is solid as fuck and fun to play.