Traffic density in the footage is noticeably higher than V and it changes the game

Counted vehicles in frame across several comparable street level shots and the density is consistently higher than equivalent Los Santos shots, sometimes substantially.

This is not a graphics observation. Traffic density determines whether a chase is a driving challenge or a shooting gallery. Dense traffic means you are threading rather than accelerating, which means the handling model matters more and the top speed matters less.

It also means the report before wanted level system has more witnesses in it, which is not a coincidence.