Controller Challenge

I've tried Need For Speed: Most Wanted PC game. I'm really disappointed by the detailed settings of the game controller - the controller is a Logitech WingMan Rumblepad, and the possible settings are: none (besides assigning buttons and axes).
No "Dead Zone", no sensitivity. Which is really disturbing in the light of the unrealistic sensitivity in the game - a stir on the analogue joystick turns the car at a greater rate than you can call fine. Also without "Dead Zone" (how far you have to move the joystick from its center position before it reports to the game that it's not centered), my car always steers a bit to the left. Combined with the rough sensitivity, I simply cannot keep it real straight.

(Advanced: Dead Zone may include a maximum range too, the "Range of Motion", which adjusts how far the joystick moves away from the center position, which the application will sense as the greatest possible value.)

Seriously, how can a car driving game, even a really arcade type like this, come out without settings for analogue controllers? What is the Cause of this situation? Besides the obvious, "buy a brand new controller". And I suspect that on PC the keyboard is the main goal for the developers, which also must be a challenge, to achieve maneuverability with a non-analogue control method.
Why isn't there a tool by the manufacturer (Logitech) to adjust the settings of the controller? It should communicate to the game a set of values, and it should modify this data regarding the settings.
Or, step one level up, why isn't there such an option for any game controller (and human interface) in a more abstract layer, like DirectX or the operating system?
Wait, thinking of it, that is not a good idea, that would be a leaky abstraction.

This is just one of the few reasons, why gaming industry is and will moving to the less difficult platforms.