The minimum hardware is:

It is possible to run on older, (e.g. on 1 core CPU and GeForce 7600 GT, with 30 Fps and Low settings),

As for laptops: newer laptops are best suited for the game.
Integrated graphics processors (from Intel and AMD) will work, but may be slow, especially the older ones.

In any case, if you get graphic errors, try updating your graphic driver.

The game is developed on a PC with GeForce GTX 560 Ti, which is the recommended hardware.
Using default settings (Higher), and with no effects, it achieves above 60 Fps on all tracks (more on smaller ones).
Also tested with GT 640 with reduced settings at about 40 Fps.

1. Esc/Tab key shows/hides GUI (F1 or ` in Editor).
2. At first, go to Options and adjust resolution (on Screen, Main tab).
3. Then pick Graphics preset according to your GPU.
4. Quit game to save settings.
5. Press New Game button to start driving.
6. For new users, read the Hints shown on welcome screen at game start
7. Visit help page in game to read Quick help.
8. Have Fun!

Keys used in game can be seen in Options on tab [Input].

If you want to reassign keys, or have a game controller go to tab [Player1] to bind it and test range.

For keyboard input, there is a sensitivity setting. You can change it for each control, or pick for all from combo (preset).
There are also speed sensitive steering and steering range settings on Setup tab in single race window.

By default, in game you can change cameras with C/X (with shift for main cameras only).
Cameras can be adjusted in game, by mouse - move mouse to see actions.

Click button to start binding, then move axis or press button or key to bind it.
Click on Edit > to change Inverse for a control (for analog axis).
Press RMB (right mouse) on button to unbind.

Check your axes range on those bars displayed.
If moving an axis from start to end also moves the bar from left to right completely (and without moving over the range) then configuration is done properly.

Binding both controller axis and keyboard keys is possible.
To check if your device was detected search for <Joystick> in ogre.log

After your configuration is complete you can restart game to have the settings saved.

You may want to backup your input_p0.xml (for Player1) in user settings dir (see Paths wiki page) or create presets this way.

Using preset combobox (which changes all settings) should be enough. Remember to quit and restart after change.

You may want to change some options individually. There are few [Graphics] options that are more important and have more impact on performance than the rest.

Fps - Frames per second. The first value shown in upper left corner of the screen.
Higher values mean smoother play. It is recommended to play with at least 30 Fps.

• Effects - have very big impact on Fps (usually any will half the Fps). It is recommended to turn them off for smooth play. Bloom is the only one less Fps intensitive.

• Shadows - the biggest Fps killer. If you have low Fps turn them off (None) also this is recommended for split screen, since the Fps drops there with each new player viewport.

• Vegetation - also a Fps killer, reduce Trees and Grass multipliers for more fps. For newer GPUs you can set them higher to have a denser vegetation.

• Materials tab - if you have an old GPU, you should lower Anisotropy (0-16, 4 is enough), Terrain (Low, Normal, Parallax) and Shaders. Turning off Triplanar can reduce Fps very much, especially on demanding tracks (big and with high mountains).

For minimum settings just pick Lowest from preset combobox and restart.

All settings are saved in game.cfg file or in editor.cfg.

For help on how to locate these files, see Paths wiki page.

Deleting this file(s) will force using default settings at next start of game or editor.

If problems occur check ogre.log for errors (or ogre_ed.log for editor).

If you have problems running, best way is to tell us on IRC or post on Forum.

Testing and reporting is very welcome. Especially if you can build the game from sources.