Has anyone ever heard of or played Project Torque?

It is a MMORG (Massively Multiplayer Online Racing Game) by Aeria Games.

http://project-torque.aeriagames.com/

Free to download and free to play. Start with a beginner car and earn points (RP) to upgrade and buy new cars. It is complety free. They get revenue by selling points to use for upgrades (AP).

Some cars, due to licensing like the Corvette requre you to buy them with AP points. There are a few cars and upgrades that can only be purchase by AP. I have been playing it since the beginning of Aug and have not spent one dime to play. One day I may splurge and get me a Vette.

Ther are many different types of races.

Thunder Alley is a Nascar type circuit track where cars are all equal, you must draft with other cars if you expect to make it to the front of the pack.

Street racing. There are many tracks, short and long. This is where the upgrades come in handy. Cars have different classes, from 1 to 5. The higher the class, the faster the car. Races can be restricted to same class, and even same car.

Drag racing. Not my favorite place to play, but it is offered.

Drift Racing. I dont have a good drift car yet, so I have not played in this area.

Capture the flag. Yep, use your car to get to the flag and carry it. If another racer hits you, he then has the flag. The point it to keep the flag as long a s possible.

My game name is Mongo66. Come and have some fun.