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We all love the sound of a proper engine. Usually eight cylinders and about five litres do the job. But this weekend, I experienced an entirely new kind of internal combustion, and it literally blew me away.

It was the sound of a Top Fuel dragster, and my god, it's unlike anything else I’ve ever heard.

I was at Santa Pod for the FIA finals, see, hanging out with Andy Carter's Lucas Oils team. And seeing as Friday was rained-off, the blokes at the team decided to put on a little show for Top Gear.

First, I was ushered into the pits and given a little tour of the car. At its heart is an 8-litre, supercharged V8. Good start. It kicks out 'about 7000bhp', and uses about 65 gallons of fuel per minute - a bit like dumping liquid into the engine with 10 shower heads on full blast.

The supercharger alone needs 800bhp to function, and the whole thing consumes fuel faster than a jumbo jet.

But it's the fuel that makes this thing so frightening. It runs on 90% nitromethane, which is actually an explosive, not a fuel. Put simply, this isn't an engine. It's a bomb.

It’'s even wrapped in a special 'ballistic blanket' - a sort of Kevlar jacket that straps to the main block to stop any wayward pistons firing out into passers-by, should the thing break.

Then I was handed my gas mask.

Now, I'm mildly asthmatic and a bit of a wimp, so I admit to faltering slightly at this point. Because of this, one of the mechanics gave me a gentle shove, placing me just three feet from The Bomb. I needed the mask, see, 'cos the fumes this thing spews out have the same effect at tear gas. Just look at the pics and see how yellow it is.

And then they fired it up.

For the first few seconds, they ran it on methanol, just to get it warm. Then, they switched to the hard stuff. The engine note rises to an angry cackle and the room starts to fill with a toxic yellow cloud.

My heart rate went up a gear and my chest tightened. Then, without any warning whatsoever, the chief mechanic blipped the throttle...

What followed was utterly ferocious. Imagine sticking your head into the mouth of an angry, roaring T-Rex, then having it chomp down and waggle you about.

For no more than half a second, the full force of The Bomb hit me. As the superchargers sucked in air, the atmosphere around me altered. My ears popped, the air left my lungs and my clothes clung tight to my body.

I literally recoiled, nearly losing my balance. It was a truly brutal, violent experience.

Just 90 seconds passed before they switched it off. That little exercise cost the team about 1500 quid in fuel and parts, and was enough to keep the engine warm for over an hour.

When two of these things set off down a quarter-mile strip, on full revs, they shake the ground enough to hit four on the Richter Scale. Four!

They literally cause earthquakes.

So whatever you do, before you die, make sure you experience a Top Fueler in action. It'll blow your mind.

Oh, and for the record, Andy Carter scored a record third European FIA title - winning the championship late on Sunday evening, by just one point.

We'll be bringing you more on this soon, so stay tuned...