A 1:28 drift car small enough for a kitchen floor. It is 4WD, listed at 30 km/h, with LED lights and a 100 metre radio range, and it is the cheapest way to find out whether sliding sideways is for you.

Best for: indoor drifting on smooth floors. More small cars are in our best RC cars under £50 guide. Watch out for: carpet. It needs a hard, smooth surface to slide.

The Havok is a 1:14 4WD drift roadster with a steering gyro, which counter-steers for you and makes holding a slide far easier. Donuts and figure-of-eights come quickly, which keeps a beginner interested.

Best for: first-time drifters on driveways and car parks. Watch out for: outgrowing it. The gyro does a lot of the work, so keen drivers soon want something more adjustable.

The 14304 comes with three sets of wheels, for drift, road and rally, under a licensed Lancia Delta body. It is brushless and listed at 67 km/h, so when you swap to grippy tyres it becomes a quick road car as well.

Best for: drivers who want one car that does several jobs. See our MJX Hyper Go range explained guide for the rest of the range. Watch out for: the speed on drift tyres. Brushless power and hard tyres make it lively; ease into the throttle.

The Banzai brings 1:10 drifting to an entry-level price. It shares its platform with FTX’s popular Vantage and Carnage, so parts are easy to find, and the larger scale looks far more like the real thing when it slides.

Best for: drifters ready for the standard club scale without the club price. Watch out for: space. A 1:10 drift car needs a big smooth area, such as an empty car park.

An officially licensed BMW E30 M3 body on HPI’s Sport 3 Drift chassis, with Work Emotion replica wheels and Toyo Proxes tyres. It is 4WD with waterproof electronics and independent double-wishbone suspension, ready to slide out of the box.

Best for: scale fans who want their drift car to look right on the shelf too. Watch out for: the body. Licensed shells are detailed and take time to replace, so practise somewhere forgiving.

Rear-wheel drive is how serious drifting is done, and the Fazer D2 is an easy way in. This Readyset has a Toyota Tundra body, oil-filled shocks and a brushed power system, and it runs on a 7.2V NiMH or 2S LiPo.

Best for: drivers moving from 4WD to proper RWD drifting. More Fazers are in our Kyosho Fazer guide. Watch out for: the change of technique. RWD needs throttle control that 4WD does not, so expect a few spins at first.

Yokomo is one of the names in competitive RC drifting, and the Rookie Drift RD2.0 is its car for first-time drifters. This kit includes the YG-302 gyro, and the chassis has more steering angle and rear grip than an entry-level car, with room to upgrade.

Best for: drivers who want to build a proper RWD drift car and take it to a club. Watch out for: the extras. It is a kit, so you also need a motor, speed controller, servo, radio, battery and a painted body.