Flatout 2! :D

If you have a good controller and patience give GRID a try. It's a great game but it's not like Flatout where you can be reckless and fly around with your ass on fire. GRID makes you actually pay attention to every turn. You'll have to learn how to give just enough gas, not too much, not too little, how to handle each corner, judge each turn, know when to break and how much etc etc etc.

Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box.
It's demo has full game which is unlocked if you enter a product key while installing.

I always liked Street Racing Syndicate. It's kind of a clone of Need For Speed: Underground 2 with tuning and stuff. Many Steam reviews mention a black screen bug that I've also run into with my physical version many years ago, though, so I don't know if you'll be able to run it. Curiously they got it re-released on Steam even though it uses real-world car licenses (what is presumably the number 1 reason why old NFS titles don't get re-released).

Not here but GTR FIA - GTR 2 or Legends carn't go wrong with them.
Not sure if they have other DRM on steam but give them a look if ya want.

Isn't "good racist games" a contradiction?

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GOG is very weak on racing, so if you want serious racing experience, I'm afraid you will have to look elsewhere.

Judging by what you wrote, you're the type for casual arcade racing, so Race Driver GRID is your best car racing choice on GOG. It's very diverse, both tracks and cars, career mode is well done and it will provide you with plenty of fun.

For motorbike racing, Motoracer 1 and 2 still hold well, first has better balance and offers better challenge, while second has editor which allows you to build your own tracks. I even made a track pack long ago and posted it in Motoracer forum, but not sure if any of the uploads still work.


Outside of GOG, I would first recommend you to try RaceRoom Racing Experience, it walks the line between arcade and simulation and it does it very well, and it's partly free (2 circuits, 1 hillclimb, and some cars). Recently they added a lot of diverse content packs at very good prices. The AI has 40 optional difficulties, so you can always find the one matching your skill to keep the challenge up and to take the most of the experience. It feels very satisfying to reach the podium after a challenging one hour race.

It is my personal favorite racing game, I have all available content and I think it is worth it. But I race with racing gear (seat, wheel, pedals, shifter), it may not be that great experience with keyboard or controller. As it's partly free, it's worth trying.

Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box is good for relaxing driving through the city and it's surroundings, with optional challenges and multiplayer support. It's pure arcade with wide variety of cars and bikes.

These two I have permanently installed, always returning to them. Also, neither has third-party DRM, just Steam.


Other popular picks are Automobilista, Assetto Corsa (poor AI), Dirt Rally, Project Cars (arcade, very rude devs). Then there's iRacing for serious multiplayer oriented players. What else... rFactor 2.. Trackmanias for building crazy tracks and arcade multiplayer oriented fun. Can't remember what else out of my head.

Well, if you like driving around in a city, I recommend Saints Row 3. :-)

Thanks, I'll have a look.
Hey, in Flatout you can't be reckless! Did you see how easy is for the driver to fly out of the car? xD
I had a pretty funny race yesterday, my car crashed in a fence and started rolling like crazy, the driver "flew" and got hit by one of the other cars!

You must love the Track & Field events. :P

behave your selves

Oh yeah, also Screamer is really good, in my opinion. It's not just some "arcade racer", it's a game that literally feels like it belongs in an arcade cabinet. Very simple but also very fun.

At the moment I'm playing GT Legends a lot, I like the vintage cars and spend lots of time adjusting the setups, which is pretty important to be competitive at higher difficulty levels.
Also it might be appealing that for all these gMotor engine games (rFactor, Simbin) there are tons and tons of extra cars, tracks and other mods for it.

Another important game, the one which made me learn to enjoy racing sims in general is Richard Burns Rally.
Most games with driving schools and license tests do nothing more than make you jump through hoops and if you try it enough you will pass it. Richard Burns actually has some good tips which will learn you how cars react en you learn that carefully managing your speed along with braking techniques are key in making you survive and eventually make you faster.

Most die hard racers demand that you play these with a wheel, but I play them with a gamepad on highest difficulty and autoclutch is the only assist. A wheel is more realistic and the cars do feel more stable, but a good wheel is expensive and you need a seat setup with which you won't be exhausted after 30mins of racing, which isn't worth it for me.
I do use headtracking (FreeTrack) for it which is pretty cool.

There's more stuff on GOG that's fun: Motoracer, Screamer, Interstate, MegaRace, POD, Powerslide, 1insane and Driver.

There are more arcade games on Steam though, where my favourites are the Crash Time games.

If you are interested in more sim-like games my personal pick would be:
* RaceRoomRacingExperience
* Stock Car Extreme 2013
* Automobilista
* Formula Truck 2013
* the SBK and MotoGP games
* rFactor 2
* the Race 07/Simbin Collection

Sims like Assetto Corsa, Project Cars, Dirt Rally, and F1 2016 are trending right now. I thought Project Cars was fun, I enjoyed the content, but also had numerous technical issues with it. The others have not really attracted me.

If you are unsure about playing sim games try RaceRoom since it has some free stuff to try the game with.
Also, rFactor 1 is often on sale for a couple of bucks, same with the Race 07 stuff. It's an opportunity to try something new without spending lots of money.

I also enjoy sim-arcade games like the WRC games, Ride, Sebastien Loeb Rally, Grid AutoSport and Dirt 1-3.
They stand in-between 'arcade' and 'sim': too technical to be arcade but not deep enough to be a sim.

I don't really care about categories myself though, I enjoy arcade games as much as "hardcore" sims. However categories do make it easier to describe things.