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The cars aren't EQUAL equal... but, with the benefit of hindsight, you're not at as big of a disadvantage as I first thought. Hilary's Sabre Turbo has somewhat better acceleration, but a lower top speed, which helps balance it. Think about the beginning of the race -- you can keep pace with Hilary (within a car length or so) all the way to the first sharp turn, easily, unless you hit something before then. It's not a case where he peels out and essentially gets a quarter-mile head start while you're still shifting into third gear, and you have to make up that difference.
What Hilary has, and you don't, is the benefit of CPU steering. You have to think about how to handle each turn, to remember the course, to deal with unexpected traffic and flying cop cars -- he doesn't. He just goes, and takes a decent line on every turn automatically, and you have to manually do the same to win. (Hilary does drive a bit erratically when you're close -- maybe you make him nervous -- and sometimes he'll make unforced errors.)
And, as you've noted, the game cheats to high hell. There are set traps that trigger when you approach and leave Hilary alone (a sharp right turn that has two cop cars slamming together comes to mind, as does the ambush after the last bridge). The cops seem to go after whoever's in second place more strenuously -- which is generally you. If Hilary gets too far ahead, he's gone; the cops and traffic no longer harass him, as they do you when you're the one with a huge lead. Hilary can always close the gap, but that's nothing new with driving games in general; hell, that's why I could never get into Mario Kart, because you could lap everyone twice and still end up with a photo finish.
The street races at Sunshine Autos are a lot more entertaining, if that's a comfort.
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