Additional cash needs to be earned in different kinds of races from checkpoint challenges to time trials. The character starts with $200.000 dollars in his pocket, but there will not be anything left after buying a first car and home. Each car has its own, realistic set of characteristics such as speed or handling, but they all have a highly detailed exterior and interior in common. From the Audi TT over the Jaguar XJ200 to the McLaren F1 and Kawasaki Z1000, there is everything the character needs as a young man or girl with too much money on their hands. There are over 125 different cars and motorcycles in different price ranges to choose from.

Every bought car has a built-in navigation system, guided by a woman's voice to get the player to his destination, either pre-programmed in the game or decided by the player.

The whole island is accessible from the beginning and after the player has bought his first home and car, he can either drive around and look for events or load up the map and jump directly to a location of a race, a car salesman or other locations - similar to Need for Speed Underground. The characters do not have different statistics, that only applies to the extravagant, licensed cars. Not an American user? Description Test Drive Unlimited lets the player choose one of several characters, both male and female, waiting at an airport to check in for their flight to the Caribbean dream island O'ahu located in Hawaii.