I was on a hiatias with RR3 when they announced the friends bonus stuff.  Can someone please explain the benefits?

Thanks

I have added quite a few, but not really seeing much if any difference other than I have some very fast friends and a lot of cup races are now really hard to finish 1st.  Glad I got the gold before the friends.

Oh...and is Manimal Real....lol...I havent added him yet...not sure I want to...haha.