Let's get right down to me explaining certain aspects of the guide;

- It becomes gradually harder for a car to continue accelerating as it gains speed, due to the surrounding air pushing against it. This is simulated in GRID by the air_resistance_z value; the lower, the better. Weight also seems to affect this, with lighter cars being subjected to more 'drag' regardless of AR value.

- The grip values both improve cornering and reduce tendency to slide, but there are other factors in regards to handling. max_steering_lock is important, with a higher value resulting in a more nimble car. Weight matters again, with lighter cars being better if all things are otherwise equal. And remember that FWD, 4WD and RWD cars will each handle very differently.

- For cars that are purchasable in vanilla Grid World, a test drive at Le Mans 1968 was used to determine top speed. The highest speed reached down the Mulsanne straight is used. For cars that cannot be bought, a theoretical top speed is listed in brackets, using a multiplication of rev limit, top gear ratio, and wheel radius.

- DLC cars are included in this guide, but are listed in italics and largely ignored. You can only get the DLC on PC via mods, with another separate mod required to make the cars purchasable in Grid World.

- I've added my own car rankings in each category that has at least two cars that can be bought in vanilla Grid World. Whilst the objective CSV data helps a lot in ranking the cars, some of my decisions are naturally going to be subjective.

I suspect that the devs made this car 4WD to make it easier to recover from a collision, which is obviously likely to happen in a derby. The rear grip was then lowered to make the car still feel like a RWD, even though it isn't.

The only significant difference between the two non-DLC cars is the drivetrain, but this is a pretty big deal. I'm inclined to favour the BMW in this situation, as the Lacetti being FWD induces understeer, and the cars aren't powerful enough to make a RWD car lose traction much.

This is what I'm basing my claim of light cars being more affected by drag off of. The F1000 cannot match the Mustang 302's top speed, despite superior P/W ratio and base AR. But the low weight conversely makes this one of the best cornering cars in the game, in spite of low grip values.

The TVR is fast, albeit difficult to keep a handle on especially in low gears. Alas, you'll have to win 2 events and a head-to-head with the Tuscan if you want 100% completion.

I haven't actually 'ranked' the cars here, because all of them can drift well, and any attempt to rank them on something where speed is irrelevant would be highly subjective. I have however listed the cars from 'on-paper' slowest to fastest, which becomes relevant in drift battles. But even then, the Corolla is the only car that is truly outclassed.

The Mustang 302 wins the class within a class that is Classic Muscle, but the high AR prevents it from competing with the other Pro cars. Whilst the Challenger does have abnormally high grip values, it is still the heaviest car in the game, and has a horrible 6th gear that's way too long to be useful.

The Mustang Concept likewise has less than ideal gear ratios, effectively making it a 5 speed most of the time. This means that the Viper has better acceleration, though it is more prone to sliding than the Concept.

Unlike Pro Muscle, all four non-DLC cars here are good. I subjectively preferred the NSX over the 350Z, but must acknowledge that the latter has more potential. In any case, whilst the Skyline isn't as nimble as the other tuned cars, the unrivalled stability of 4WD and best P/W ratio across both pro categories makes it the class leader.

EA held the exclusive licence to Porsche at the time of this games release. The LMS licence allowed Codemasters to add the 911 to the game, albeit with restrictions in place.

The Esperante's strength lies in it's power curve. The Spyker and Porsche both have a sharp power drop on either side of their peak (8500 rpm), whilst the Esperante maintains near enough max power from 5500-7000 rpm. This allows the Panoz to pull away in a straight line, though the handling of the Spyker should not be underestimated.

The lower steering lock makes the F3 less nimble than you'd expect it to be compared to the F1000. Nonetheless, this is faster than anything short of an A class vehicle on most tracks.

You could make an argument for any of the top three cars here, so my rankings are highly subjective. The DBR9 is a strong all-rounder, albeit held back by it's AR. The Corvette C5 makes me wonder if the developers got the CSV files for it and the C6 mixed up, since the C5 smokes it's newer counterpart.

But the Murcielago is my top pick, and not just because it's a monster at Le Mans. Despite what others say about the handling, I've never had a problem controlling this car, and it corners very well whilst not giving up too much in acceleration.

We've reached the insanely quick A class cars. Whilst the Koenigsegg does have significantly higher P/W ratio, it falls short in far too many areas to seriously challenge the Zonda here.

A difficult class to win at Le Mans isn't made any easier by the game preventing you from using the C65 for some reason, even though you can use it in the LMS. Handling wise, this class feels a lot like Formula 3, just with more top speed and stability over acceleration and cornering.

Oh dear, the R390 is a disaster. It has a unique handling problem where if you aren't braking in a perfectly straight line, the car pitches sharply. At this point you can either allow the R390 to steer on it's own and crash, or attempt to countersteer, get violently flung the other way and crash.

At least the Doran is driveable, though it doesn't see much use outside of it's own one make USA event, due to the presence of Mazda and Audi.

Whilst I have put the Creation 2nd for it's low AR and wide powerband, the extra peak power of the Lola might make it faster on tracks with fewer long straights. This is all a moot point though, due to the Audi R10 combining the best elements of both cars.