I believe the Playstation 3 can only run one wheel & pedal set - but I never really investigated otherwise. I can't imaging using these games with a hand controller. I've never run GT2 and I highly recommend GT3 and 4. Each game got progressively more realistic. You should be able to get either one new for $20 bucks.
The "driving lessons" on GT3 & 4 are basically proficiency tests to get you acclimated to the dynamics of the game and also to make you "earn" licenses to unlock more tracks & access more cars. They are good tutorials on basic driving skills - but keep in mind, it IS a racing sim ... so I don't know how much they'll learn about being responsible drivers. Also - when you go flying into the woods, the consequences aren't quite as dire as in real life.
One of the knocks on the GT series is the lack of damage in crashes. You can pretty much play bumper car penalty free. But as the developer pointed out, to scan damaged cars & incorporate all variations of wreckage would take a year per car. As it is, they've lowered their number of available cars in GTHD due to the time involved in digitizing each car, from multiple angles in high definition. GT4 has about 500, and most of them are either multiples of Japanese racers (Supras, Skylines, etc...) or stupid stuff like Jay Leno's Tank Car, 1910 Oldsmobiles or even a Nike electric car. Please. If GTHD has 100 really cool cars, it will be plenty.
I just hope for one thing - they improve the engine sounds. They're really
synthetic. The Cobra sounds like a protracted goose fart. My PC sim has actual samples of Porsches, Vipers, Ferarris and Vettes, and I'm running it through a stereo in my garage ... LOUD. For all the time being expended on GTHD, I hope they don't neglect that part of the experience.