There is still a small community, with whom I've managed to get a year of drifting from. If you remember what it was like back in September 2014 (when your forum account was created), almost nothing has changed since then except for the player names, a lot of people don't last for more than a couple months and I can't really blame them

EDIT: As for mods:

1) scavenge the mods section here on the forums and download anything with a download link
2) Join the JDMF FB Group, more mods there
3) Download everything P-Server related (HERE)
4) Download everything from the 62's site (HERE)
5) Give everyone that leads a private FB group a blowjob

In the end your rfactor folder should be 100gb+ and you'll still only see about half of the cars.
Welcome back

The JDMF Starter Pack is basically useless at this point, it's just contains all of the tracks that are on the 2 track lists here on the forum (altho yeah, the ones in the starter pack don't work), and PD 2.31 with a couple extra's. You're better off just downloading PD 2.31 from the P-Server blog and starting from there.

SP Mod is an absolute necessity, it's the second most popular drift mod apart from PD, contains 15 cars and imo they handle way better. REALFactor...not too sure but iirc it's mostly outdated and not necessary.

The FB group is closed & requires applications here on the forum, although it's a bit of a joke. If you can't get in don't worry, it's not necessary.

There is no guideline, just join when you think your ready. The majority of players aren't great drivers, so feel free to improve yourself online instead of getting lonely in solo