Top Gear LIVE

First published on 26 Nov 2009. Updated on 5 Apr 2011.

On February 11, Acer Arena will tremble from the mighty roar of engines as the Top Gear Live tour rolls into town once again. Not content to rest on their laurels, Jeremy Clarkson and James May are bringing an even larger show to Australia than last year, full of hot cars, crazy stunts and fire. "It's bigger and better than it was last year. The stunts are just unbelievable. There's no expense spared," says head stunt driver Paul Swift, who has more than 23 years of experience behind the wheel, including numerous racing wins and a world record for the youngest person to perform a vehicular stunt.

With a laundry list of cars including Porsches, Dodge Vipers, Caterhams, tricked-out Holdens, a Ford Focus with chameleonic paint and even construction equipment, the show is set to be a petrolhead's dream. "We've got a Subaru rally car which we set on fire," Swift reveals. "I really enjoy driving it, because it's four-wheel drive and turbocharged. You're on the limit inside the arena - you've only got a small area to perform in - so it's really interesting getting that beast sideways."

On top of flaming cars, the show also features the world's first indoor loop-the-loop and a sequence called ‘Carmageddon'. "It's a bit like Robot Wars, but with cars. Basically, we fight for our lives in the arena, and the winner goes away with luxury items such as a kettle and a toaster. We've got the world's best pyrotechnic team on the tour with us, so it all looks very, very realistic from the audience's perspective."

To minimise the inherent danger of acting like a bunch of auto-maniacs, the team rehearses for four weeks before starting the tour. But don't be fooled into thinking it's entirely safe: "When we do things for a live audience, things do go wrong." It wouldn't be Top Gear if they didn't. Jonathon Valenzuela