To everyone who posted in this thread: Thanks for all the useful information and the helpful tips. I had been trying all types of racing game demos through the years like NFS but I never had the urge to buy any full version of any racing game. After reading through all the positive reviews, I decided to buy GRID and I was, for the 1st time, got addicted to a racing game. I think it's the most realistic, the crashes (if it happens), the tracks, the cars, the customization of the cars you can do, etc, everything is fantastic. But yes, if using the keyboard, the cars are too difficult to control. A gamepad, like the one I use (Rumblepad from Logitech) is of immense help.
I think the 24 hrs Lemans race at the end of every season is the most difficult race. One mistake and it is very difficult to catch up with opponents who pass you. The secret is consistency in everything in this race. I am currently trying for the global licence which requires 1,000,000 reputation points. One thing I learnt playing the game is to slow down through the outside while approaching a turn and speed up while exiting the turn. The tracks in the Japanese regions are the most difficult.
As someone rightly mentioned, drifting is the speciality of the game. Once you master it, it is fun. For that you will have to have a car with low grip value. For this, you will most times not require to use the e-brake. Simply turning will initiate drifting. And combos through the turns will fetch highest number of points. I am currently using the Mazda for drifting and it's awesome. It has a grip value of only 2/5 and that helps. Previously I had made the mistake of using the Toyota corolla AE86 but this is better. Continue with 3-5 seconds with drifting and you will get scores for incredible and insane drifts. Drifting is fun and GRID is also fun when you master the turns.
My 2 cents regarding GRID...
