I was moaning on some forum or other that there was no game that was like Gran Turismo, but online. Someone linked me to the S1 demo which I tried out, but it didn't really click for me; I think there were other games out which demanded more of my time, so I didn't give S1 too much attention.
Then later I somehow stumbled across the S2 demo (via another forum post) and gave it a proper try. Initially I only really liked it because of the online racing aspect, but then I got to know some of the regular racers and found that the community was big enough for many demo servers, but small and dedicated enough to give a good vibe out and so you could bump into the same people. Then I got to know what the game stood for and its grand plan, I became a proper LFS fanboy and signed away my £24 as soon as S2 was out.
Best. Decision. Ever.