The system of respect points is one of the highlights of Street Racing Syndicate - as well as earning respect for wins, the way you drive also racks up the points. Winning not only earns you cash, but also respect points which are needed to open up new races. Lose a one-on-one race and prang up your car in the process and you could be looking at a huge dent in what was a sizeable purse. Each race won earns money that can be spent on upgrades or new vehicles, but since each race you participate in requires you to pony up some cash in the form of a bet or an entrance fee, players need to manage their funds carefully.
Players can compete in one-on-one races by finding another vehicle (usually marked by a big arrow) and flashing their lights, or they can enter sanctioned or crew meets which pits them against three other competitors in a series of races. Once on the streets, Street Racing Syndicate is structured much like the Midnight Club series, where you have large, open cities to roam and find races in. So players will definitely be spending plenty of time in the garage, but not necessarily because they want to be there.
This is particularly evident with performance upgrades - each new sub-screen telling you the effect of a particular upgrade on your car takes about two seconds to load. Unfortunately, navigating through the garage menu screens can be a bit of a chore due to its slowness. With a healthy list of performance and cosmetic options, its clear Street Racing Syndicate wants players to spend time in the garage tweaking their rides to their heart's content. The range of customisation is by no means extensive (compared to something like Forza Motorsport) but there's plenty of options there to ensure that, with enough tweaking, you can have a car that's completely unique looking. This includes everything from new paint jobs, vinyls, stickers, and even cool but completely superfluous neon lights under the skirt of the car.
Since no self-respecting street racer would even think of hitting the streets without first pimping out their ride, Street Racing Syndicate gives players plenty of options to customise the look of their vehicles.