What each kind of car actually asks of you.

Mid-engined modern road cars — 458s and 488s, Huracáns, 911 GT3s, the odd McLaren — and the most common thing on this list. Most are sold as an experience rather than a day: a briefing, an instructor in the passenger seat and a set number of laps, with the operator's own insurance already priced in.

They are easy to drive slowly and deceptively quick, which is the catch. Grip and stability control hide speed until the braking zone, where a heavy car with road tyres needs much more room than you expect. Ask how many laps you actually get, whether there is a second session, and what the excess is if you put a wheel wide.

M2s, Caymans, Alpine A110s, Supras, MX-5s: 180 to 500 hp, light enough to move around underneath you, and usually rented by the day rather than by the lap. If you want seat time rather than a story, this is where the money goes furthest.

The best of them teach you something. A mid-engined Cayman or an A110 will show you what a chassis does when you lift mid-corner without punishing you for finding out. Many operators rent these with optional instruction by the session — worth taking for the first one even if you have driven on track before.

Cup and clubsport machinery: Clio Cups, Ginetta G40s, race-prepared BMWs, Cayman Clubsports, GT3 Cup cars. Roll cage, bucket seat, harness, semi-slick or slick tyres, and in some cases no ABS and no power steering to speak of.

Expect a longer briefing, a seat and belt fitting, and a requirement to show experience — many operators will insist on an instructor for the first session, and some will not rent to a first-timer at all. Check what the damage excess is and whether tyres and fuel are on the clock, because both wear far faster than they do in a road car.

Ferrari 488 Challenge, Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo and their EVO versions: aero, slicks, sequential paddle shift, and around 600 hp with the downforce to use it. These are the cars that run in manufacturer one-make series, rented with the team that maintains them.

The price covers more than the car. Engineer, mechanic, tyres, fuel, data and a coach are usually part of the package, and the day is run like a test day rather than a track day. Not a first outing — most operators want prior circuit experience, and several require a licence.

A mixed group: road-legal GT cars such as the 911 GT3 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage alongside instructor-led laps in one-make GT machinery. What they share is a lot of front-end grip and brakes that keep working for longer than a standard road car's.

The thing to establish is which side of that line you are booking. A road GT3 on a track day is a very different afternoon from three supervised laps in a Challenge car, and both appear under this label on operators' own sites.

Formula 4, Formula Renault 2.0, Tatuus and Dallara F3. The power figures look modest next to a supercar, but so does the weight, and the way a single-seater changes direction is unlike anything with doors.

There is a process before you drive: a seat and pedal fitting, a suit and full-face helmet, and a briefing on the gearbox and the pit exit. The brakes need far more pedal pressure than you will expect, the steering has no assistance, and it is normal to spend the first session simply learning to be smooth. Most operators build up the laps in stages.

Genuine cars from the V8 and V10 eras, run by specialists who maintain them and coach over the radio. The day is a programme rather than a rental: briefing, seat fitting, a warm-up in a slower single-seater, and then a small number of laps in the F1 car itself.

It asks something of you physically — neck and arms especially — and operators screen for it, usually requiring prior single-seater experience. Expect it to be the most expensive thing on this site, and expect the number of laps to be counted carefully.

Megane RS, Civic Type R, i20 N and i30 N, GR Yaris, Golf R, Clio Cup. Front-wheel drive, forgiving limits, and cheap enough that a full day of running is realistic rather than aspirational.

This is the category to book if the point is to learn. You can drive a hot hatch to the edge at speeds that leave you room to recover, which is exactly what the first few days on a circuit should be about. Brakes and front tyres are what suffer — ask whether either is chargeable.

Caterham Superlights and Ariel Atoms. Under a tonne, no bodywork worth the name, and an experience that has more in common with a motorcycle than with a car. Slow on the spec sheet, startling in practice.

Dress for it: an open cockpit means wind, weather and whatever the car in front is leaving on the track. A helmet is required and usually provided; layers, gloves and eye protection are your problem. Wet weather changes the day entirely, so ask what happens if it rains.

Radical SR3 and Wolf GB08-style cars: sequential gearboxes, slicks, and enough aerodynamic load that the car works better the faster you go — which is a difficult instinct to acquire.

An instructor is generally required rather than offered, and deposits are large. Worth it for someone who has run a few race cars and wants to understand what downforce actually feels like; wasted on a first track day.