In season mode, the player has to race in four GT classes. Each of these classes have five race tracks. The player starts in the GT qualifying class, and progressly gets to GT3, GT2 and GT1 classes. The player gets cash when they finish in the top three in each race. The player begins with $50,000 for the purchase of their first car. This gives the option to purchase an expensive car and hit the circuit, or purchase an inexpensive car and put extra money towards upgrades right away. The "paddock" is the garage area where the player will maintain and upgrade their cars. In the car shop, cars can be bought and sold. All cars can be upgraded. The player can modify the car to increase its performance and value. Once a component has been upgraded, it can be installed or removed at any time. Components that can be upgraded are: brakes, suspension, exhaust, engine, gearbox, aero kit and the tires of the car. The player can tune their car. Not tuning in making a design to the car or spray with colour, but change the optimum performance of the car. Components that can be adjusted are: brakes, suspension, ride height, transmission, gearbox, downforce and the tires. When a whole class is finished, the final results are shown. If the player has done well enough, there will be a special race held. The player can accept or not. If the player accepts, they will race against a car that has not been available. The player needs to beat the CPU player to win their car and $150,000. The first race in the first class is Sebring International Short, with three laps. The final race of the first class is Sebring International Raceway, with 20 laps. The player's car does not get damaged but it can get slower from hitting other cars, people, or walls. Paris GT1, a bonus class, is made available when a player has completely finished the GT1 class. The bonus class has the same cars as GT1 but different tracks, based in Paris, France. This bonus class has six laps per race on each of its tracks, like the GTQ and GT3 classes.
Arcade mode
The "arcade" race is a stand-alone challenge that the player can configure in a number of ways. Adjustable parameters are: the player's car, the track, race length and the opponent's GT class car.
Time trial
The "time trial" mode lets the player take the customised car saved in "season" mode and go after the track records.
Multiplayer
Head-to-head: configure a race in a number of ways and challenge an opponent to a one-on-one race.
Pace car: similar to head-to-head, but the player and their opponent are joined by an experienced CPU-driver.
Pink slip: same as head-to-head, but races must be run with cars saved in season mode. At the end of the race, the loser's car is deleted from his or her memory card and saved to the winner's.
Windows overview
If the graphics add-on is selected by the user to be installed for SCGT, the game will show off enormously improved graphics. If the add-on is not selected by the user to be installed, the game's graphics show their age. It has various easily noticeable errors. Typical polygon counts are in the low thousands. A major gripe of SCGT players is that the headlights have no effect on the dashboard view. In 2005 the developers of Sports Car GT released the multi-class sim rFactor and the successor to the GMotor 1 engine first used in Sports Car GT for Windows.
Reception
The PC version received "favorable" reviews, while the PlayStation version received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.
