We numerically simulate the vortex ring collision experiment of Lim and Nickels (Nature, 357:225-227, 1992), in an attempt to understand the rapid formation of very fine scale turbulence (or 'smoke') from relatively smooth initial conditions. Reynolds numbers of up to Re = \Gamma/\nu = 5000 are reached, where \Gamma is the vortex ring circulation, and \nu the kinematic viscosity of the fluid. These coincide with the highest-Reynolds number case of the experiments. Different perturbations to the ring vortex are added, and their effect on the generation and amplification of turbulence is quantified. The underlying dynamics of the vortex core is analyzed. The presence of Crow and elliptic instabilities is used to explain the different dynamics: either turbulent reconnection or cloud formation. The full ring dynamics is compared to that arising from a simple Biot-Savart filament model for the core, linking the vortex ring collisions to finite-time singularities in Biot-Savart and their possible relationship to finite-time singularities in the Euler equations. The asymptotic behaviour of the collision behaviour is analyzed, and a link to the turbulent energy cascade is revealed.