Rally and Trailblazer are honestly the exact same thing. The only difference is the co-pilot calling out the turns.
I like those modes the best as well.
My picks are probably about the same as TIME's, with the exception of the fact that I'm not quite as negative about the trucks and buggies. I will agree they are easy to lose control of, but that is part of the fun to me...
I'm not sure if all of these modes are available online or not, but a couple that I haven't seen mentioned are the Last Man Standing events where the last person gets eliminated every 20 seconds. That one is probably my least favorite. And also the Gate Crasher events, also not a favorite of mine.