RS3

147 shots, foot to the floor, three cakes fused into one straight-firing block. The RS3 from Brothers Pyrotechnics is named after the hot hatch and behaves like one. No clever cornering, no fancy choreography, just straight-line aggression.

All 30mm tubes, the biggest bore you can buy. Every shot lifts a full break: golden brocade crowns followed by deep colour changes that thud in your chest. 3kg of powder, lasting over two minutes, a beast of a cake that holds full throttle from launch to last shot.

F3 with a 25-metre safety distance. Houdini is the obvious comparison at this money if you want a fanned spread rather than straight firing.

More big compounds in the compound range.