Car Trials can best be described as a sporting trial suitable for standard production cars, bringing to the sport a high degree of skill and commitment.

Cars are essentially unmodified but sometimes carry ballast to improve the grip of the standard road tyres. However, there is a class for production cars, taxed for the road, and carrying no ballast other than a sump guard. This has become a very popular and competitive class.

Competing on grassy surfaces, cars have to proceed with unassisted forward motion through sections set out on a hillside, placing a premium on the ability to place and drive the car skilfully and accurately whilst retaining grip on a slippery surface.

A passenger must be carried in the front of the car; known as the "bouncer" they can provide valuable weight to the driven wheels when called for by the driver

The events are scored by markers by the side of the section, numbered from 12 at the bottom down to 1 at the top. Marks are scored by getting the front wheels past the marker. At the end of the day the driver with the lowest score is the winner.