For starters, I feel like the actual driving controls improve with every new Mario Kart, with 8 being the best of all of them. It's why I think that Super Mario Kart is kind of an obsolete game, in turn, propping up my defense to see classic tracks in new games.
There are a lot of differences between Mario Kart Wii and Super Mario Kart, beyond simply turning physics. The driving, the characters, the multiplayer, the music, the controls, the vehicles, the physics, etc.
Which is why I think that MC3 is better in MK8D than ever before. It's definitely a great course for those friends who insist on not playing on tracks where you can fall off of them (aka, the "no Rainbow Road" people lol).