Yeah it is caused by unburnt fuel being pushed out into the exhaust pipe, if the pipe is hot enough it will ignite and send flames out the pipe

 

its called an afterfire, a backfire is when it goes back into your intake (usually only happens on carbs) but turbo cars usually run rich to keep it safe, and when you downshift guess its just the burning fuel coming through your exhaust.

 

Thanks for the info guys!

 

It must be something to do with subarus. haha\

 

na i've seen allll kinds of cars do it. i've only seen one happen upclose when parked and that was an rx7...he played with the throttle and it spat out flames every so often. and i've seen a buncha variety of cars do it at races.

 

Yeah i know. I was just looking through subaru pics and found those three. I have yet to see it happen in person though.

 

IT's actually quite common on highly modded cars, especially those running a significant amount of boost. Go to a track day and you'll see it happen quite a bit.

 

yeah i been to a track and saw it a few times just that day, fast and the furious style

 

Mines done it once or twice.

 

[:@]