Track days, Need for speed
Tell your mates you 'do a bit of track work' and they'll probably deride you loudly while being secretly jealous of your super cool skills. The chances are, however, you've probably never uttered that phrase in your life, and the nearest you've ever got to a track is indulging in a bit of the armchair-centric digital car duelling mentioned elsewhere in this list. However, it's getting more and more difficult to drive 'properly' these days because... well, it's obvious why you cant blare around the streets like a lunatic. But, once we're all in two-tonne electric city cars it'll be nigh on impossible.
The solution is the track. The problem is, track driving is a lot harder than Clarkson and co make it look on the telly; it takes practice, dedication, a lot of going backwards and a wad of smouldering tyres to get good at the track thing. Fortunately plenty of tracks have 'bring your own' days where you can take your life and car into your hands for a small fee - between £100 and £150 should do it - and often with some useful free tuition bundled in too. Circuits as diverse as Castle Combe, Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Spa and Snetterton all do it. For a full list see www.trackdays.co.uk.
