Welcome to the Enthusia subforum on GTPlanet -- the largest Enthusia community on the web!
These are the most commonly asked questions about the game, and hopefully you'll be able to find the answer to what you're looking for here. If not, ask your question in a related thread -- or start a new thread if there aren't any similar ones -- and one of the regulars here will be glad to help you.
If you don't already have the game:
"Why should I bother trying Enthusia, when I already have GT4?"
There are several reasons why -- it offers a very different experience from that of GT4, there are several cars and a couple types of tracks that aren't featured in GT4, andrenting/buying the game is really cheap. Note: The game's value has risen since the '00s. Copies are still relatively easy to find, but if you've long wanted to try this game, you should grab a copy while you can!
"How many cars and tracks does Enthusia have? What are they?"
There are 211 cars, and you can find a complete list written by our very own Kamkor here. If you can read Japanese or are willing to run it through a translator, there's also a sortable list here.
There are about 50 tracks if you include reverse and wet versions. Note: The only real-life courses featured in the game are the Nürburgring and Tsukuba. The rest are fantasy courses based on real-world locations.
Drifting and/or Initial D fans may be glad to hear that Enthusia features a full-blown Touge course, allowing you to run both down- and uphill.
"What is the A.I. like?"
Enthusia's A.I. is often described as being more intelligent than GT4's, and more aware of the fact that you exist, but it's far from perfect. If you race cleanly, they'll probably give you a pretty good fight.
"Does the game support the DFP (Driving Force Pro) and its 900-degree mode?"
Yes, Enthusia fully supports the DFP and the 900-degree mode. Since Enthusia's controls include a clutch button, some of our members have taken things a step further.
"Alright, I don't care about any of that stuff. How realistic is it? How does it drive?"
The general consensus around this forum is that the game is impressive, quite realistic, and you can find examples of these feelings in, well, pretty much any thread in this forum.
However, whether or not it is more realistic than GT4 is up for debate, and has been debated at great length many, many, many, many, many times before.
"How does the gameplay work? What are those 'Enthu points?'"
The main mode of the game, Enthusia Life (or EL), is basically a career mode, like GT4's Gran Turismo mode. However, instead of purchasing cars, racing to earn money, and using that money to make your car faster or buy a faster one, eventually beating all of the races, EL works off of a completely different system.
At the beginning of your EL career, you'll start out with a rank of #1000. The goal of EL is to attain rank #1 and win the King of the Year race, which takes place at the end of every in-game year. How -- and how soon -- you achieve this goal is completely up to you. Time flows week by week, with races, switching cars, or resting each taking one full week to do. Your ranking is determined by ranking points, which are earned from beating races. These points are not cumulative -- here is a good explanation of how it works. The next post also covers this system in more detail.
When you first start, the game allows you to choose from one of several (slow) cars, and then you begin racing, randomly earning (or not earning) cars after each race via EL's prize-car lottery, which allows you to win one of the cars that were in the race you just completed. As you race, your car will earn tuning points, which accumulate and earn up to 10 "Tuning Levels," which are similar to character levels in an RPG (there are no tuning parts to buy or install -- the game takes care of power, tire, and weight upgrades for you, and suspension/differential settings can be adjusted for any car at any time). Your driver skill will also level up, increasing your maximum number of Enthu points and enabling you to recover them at a faster rate. These tuning points and driver skill points are partly determined by what place you finish in, but also how well you drive. Which brings me to the next part...
Enthu Points. Think of them as RPG-style "hit points" for your driver, or you, or however you want to look at it (they were called hit points in the Japanese version). Drive well, and you'll be just fine. Drive poorly, hitting other cars, hitting walls, and/or ending up off-course, and your driver will get beaten and battered, stressed and scared, and you'll lose Enthu Points. The more Enthu Points you lose, the fewer tuning points you'll receive. Lose all of your Enthu Points, and you'll have to skip racing for a week (bad for your rank). See the next post for more details on this system, too.
The other unique mode is Driving Revolution (or DR), which is basically DDR with cars. Instead of stepping on dance pads, you'll have to drive through strategically-placed gates at a specific speed, and you'll be graded, like DDR, based on how close you came to the correct speed. It sounds relatively simple, but the difficulty racks up as you move on through the levels. Some complain that many of the DR levels don't help train you on the correct racing line, and therefore are useless as learning tools, but the skills and techniques you will learn, even if the level doesn't follow the line, can be helpful.
Other game modes include the standard Time Attack (or TA) mode, Free Race (or FR) mode (which allows you to set up a custom grid of AI opponents), and Versus mode.
"What's this 'VGS' thing?"
Throughout the game, you'll have the option of driving with the VGS (Virtual Gravity System) indicator. It's basically a G-ball with 4 tires around it, showing you what G-forces your car is experiencing as it drives, and how much stress you're putting on each tire. If the outline around the tire turns red, you've exceeded the grip and that wheel is spinning. There's also an optional translucent-black border that moves around according to the G-forces (to simulate a driver's head shaking around), and an optional blur effect that takes the border's place at high speed.
"Is there damage? Online play? Visual mods? Traffic? Pit stops? Dynamic weather or day-night transitions? Widescreen support?"
Damage: No.
Online: No.
Bodykits/spoilers: No.
Traffic/streetracing: No.
Pit stops/fuel usage/tire wear: No.
Dynamic weather or day-night transitions: No.
Widescreen support: No.
These are the most commonly asked questions about the game, and hopefully you'll be able to find the answer to what you're looking for here. If not, ask your question in a related thread -- or start a new thread if there aren't any similar ones -- and one of the regulars here will be glad to help you.
If you don't already have the game:
"Why should I bother trying Enthusia, when I already have GT4?"
There are several reasons why -- it offers a very different experience from that of GT4, there are several cars and a couple types of tracks that aren't featured in GT4, and
"How many cars and tracks does Enthusia have? What are they?"
There are 211 cars, and you can find a complete list written by our very own Kamkor here. If you can read Japanese or are willing to run it through a translator, there's also a sortable list here.
There are about 50 tracks if you include reverse and wet versions. Note: The only real-life courses featured in the game are the Nürburgring and Tsukuba. The rest are fantasy courses based on real-world locations.
Drifting and/or Initial D fans may be glad to hear that Enthusia features a full-blown Touge course, allowing you to run both down- and uphill.
"What is the A.I. like?"
Enthusia's A.I. is often described as being more intelligent than GT4's, and more aware of the fact that you exist, but it's far from perfect. If you race cleanly, they'll probably give you a pretty good fight.
"Does the game support the DFP (Driving Force Pro) and its 900-degree mode?"
Yes, Enthusia fully supports the DFP and the 900-degree mode.
Since Enthusia's controls include a clutch button, some of our members have taken things a step further."Alright, I don't care about any of that stuff. How realistic is it? How does it drive?"
The general consensus around this forum is that the game is impressive, quite realistic, and you can find examples of these feelings in, well, pretty much any thread in this forum.
However, whether or not it is more realistic than GT4 is up for debate, and has been debated at great length many, many, many, many, many times before."How does the gameplay work? What are those 'Enthu points?'"
The main mode of the game, Enthusia Life (or EL), is basically a career mode, like GT4's Gran Turismo mode. However, instead of purchasing cars, racing to earn money, and using that money to make your car faster or buy a faster one, eventually beating all of the races, EL works off of a completely different system.
At the beginning of your EL career, you'll start out with a rank of #1000. The goal of EL is to attain rank #1 and win the King of the Year race, which takes place at the end of every in-game year. How -- and how soon -- you achieve this goal is completely up to you. Time flows week by week, with races, switching cars, or resting each taking one full week to do. Your ranking is determined by ranking points, which are earned from beating races. These points are not cumulative -- here is a good explanation of how it works. The next post also covers this system in more detail.
When you first start, the game allows you to choose from one of several (slow) cars, and then you begin racing, randomly earning (or not earning) cars after each race via EL's prize-car lottery, which allows you to win one of the cars that were in the race you just completed. As you race, your car will earn tuning points, which accumulate and earn up to 10 "Tuning Levels," which are similar to character levels in an RPG (there are no tuning parts to buy or install -- the game takes care of power, tire, and weight upgrades for you, and suspension/differential settings can be adjusted for any car at any time). Your driver skill will also level up, increasing your maximum number of Enthu points and enabling you to recover them at a faster rate. These tuning points and driver skill points are partly determined by what place you finish in, but also how well you drive. Which brings me to the next part...
Enthu Points. Think of them as RPG-style "hit points" for your driver, or you, or however you want to look at it (they were called hit points in the Japanese version). Drive well, and you'll be just fine. Drive poorly, hitting other cars, hitting walls, and/or ending up off-course, and your driver will get beaten and battered, stressed and scared, and you'll lose Enthu Points. The more Enthu Points you lose, the fewer tuning points you'll receive. Lose all of your Enthu Points, and you'll have to skip racing for a week (bad for your rank). See the next post for more details on this system, too.
The other unique mode is Driving Revolution (or DR), which is basically DDR with cars. Instead of stepping on dance pads, you'll have to drive through strategically-placed gates at a specific speed, and you'll be graded, like DDR, based on how close you came to the correct speed. It sounds relatively simple, but the difficulty racks up as you move on through the levels. Some complain that many of the DR levels don't help train you on the correct racing line, and therefore are useless as learning tools, but the skills and techniques you will learn, even if the level doesn't follow the line, can be helpful.
Other game modes include the standard Time Attack (or TA) mode, Free Race (or FR) mode (which allows you to set up a custom grid of AI opponents), and Versus mode.
"What's this 'VGS' thing?"
Throughout the game, you'll have the option of driving with the VGS (Virtual Gravity System) indicator. It's basically a G-ball with 4 tires around it, showing you what G-forces your car is experiencing as it drives, and how much stress you're putting on each tire. If the outline around the tire turns red, you've exceeded the grip and that wheel is spinning. There's also an optional translucent-black border that moves around according to the G-forces (to simulate a driver's head shaking around), and an optional blur effect that takes the border's place at high speed.
"Is there damage? Online play? Visual mods? Traffic? Pit stops? Dynamic weather or day-night transitions? Widescreen support?"
Damage: No.
Online: No.
Bodykits/spoilers: No.
Traffic/streetracing: No.
Pit stops/fuel usage/tire wear: No.
Dynamic weather or day-night transitions: No.
Widescreen support: No.
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Good luck, and keep on practising. 
but it FR and it had a lot of power compared to what I have and in that it seems like it would impossible to go around a corner and not have the back end come around. So how long do you have to wait until you get a FR that has traction control and the more the car lvls up and you get better tires will the back end be less likely to come around?
but I didn't like it so its ok, The 180 is better the back end doesn't come around as easily well actually its easer to control and after driving it for a while I have gotten a "Feel" for the car and can better control the oversteer and now I can maintain a drift but sometimes I will put in too much correction and the front end will slam into the wall and well if anyone is near I get freight trained and get pissed of and the get my best lap running down the cars that passed me 
