We’re always totally amazed that any engine lives through the pure, unadulterated, hell that is an Aussie burnout contest. Banging off the rev limiter, shooting fire from the exhaust and essentially freewheeling for more than a minute at a time, it is one of the most brutal things that we see people to do engines…on purpose. Hell, at least the tractor pulling guys load them down some. These burnout guys just wing them up and leave ’em there until all the rubber is gone and the wheels themselves are down on the pad. Apparently one of the ways they do it is by running alcohol through the motor instead of gasoline to keep them from melting into a puddle on the burnout pad, but even that is not without risk.

As we have shown you in the past, Methanol burns in a basically invisible fashion so when something is ablaze in a methanol fire you simply cannot see it. There are famous videos of this happening and this one is no exactly famous but it does give one of the best examples of how to spot an alky fire. Because you can’t see any flames themselves, you have to look for other stuff like paint bubbling and melting off. That’s exactly what happens here at about the 1:30 mark when the car comes to a rest after a truly gnarly burnout. You will see the hood and fender paint start to bubble before the fire guys step in with their extinguishers to put it out.

This video is a two-fer. You get the nasty Aussie burnout AND the fire drama at no extra charge. Thanks to Rohan Guest for the tip on this one!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN INVISIBLE ALCOHOL FIRE BREAKS OUT DURING A CRAZY AUSSIE BURNOUT CONTEST –