When you hear about a new roller coaster, what’s the first question that you have? You want to know how fast it is, right? Velocity is the bragging rights stat for all coasters. Which ones are the fastest? Well, steel coasters have a physics advantage in that they gain (and waste) more energy. Let’s take a look at the current kings of speed, all of which are steel-based. Here are the fastest roller coasters in America.
9. Titan – Six Flags over Texas
Image: Six FlagsI’ll start with a confusing statement. The coasters ranked #7-#9 are actually tied in velocity. All of them max out at 85 miles per hour. I’ve still ordered them, though. The explanation is that a roller coaster built in 2001 that goes 85 miles per hour is less impressive than one built during the early 1990s.
Still, let’s be serious for a moment. When you drive down the freeway at 85 miles per hour, you WILL get pulled over by the cops. You’ll get a ticket, points added to your license, and run the risk of getting your driving privileges suspended.
In the great coaster wars, however, 85 miles per hour isn’t a fast enough speed to earn a spot in the top five among the fastest coasters in America. So, these three entries are on the outside looking in.
Titan is the newest of the 85 MPH steel coasters. It opened at Six Flags over Texas in 2001 and claims a unique design feature. The height of Titan is 245 feet, but clever architecture allows it to drop 255 feet at one point. It reaches 4.5Gs of friction, one of the highest totals on this list.
8. Goliath – Six Flags Magic Mountain
Image: Six FlagsSix Flags Magic Mountain finished its 85 MPH coaster 15 months prior to Six Flags over Texas. Goliath opened in 2000 and (very briefly) held the title of longest, fastest steel roller coaster on the planet. A different selection on this list quickly surpassed after only three months as the champion.
In addition to arriving first, Goliath has another claim to fame over Titan. It is 10 feet shorter, but it has the same 255-foot drop, meaning that guests dive 20 feet lower than would seem possible. This phenomenon is even more apparent in the next attraction.
7. Phantom’s Revenge – Kennywood
Image: Kennywood
First of all, let’s give it up for the designers of Phantom’s Revenge. This ride opened to the public in 1991, back during the first Bush administration. It’s older than Mike Trout or Selena Gomez. Despite its longevity, it maintains a place among the fastest roller coasters in America. This ride isn’t just the oldest coaster on the list, either. It holds that claim by nine full years!
Phantom’s Revenge is possibly the best example of coaster diving on this list. It’s a short roller coaster, at least compared to its ultra-fast peers, standing only 160-feet tall. Due to its modest slope of 52 degrees, the first drop is 228 feet. Interestingly, it’s a relative short track, too, stretching “only” 3,200 feet.
6. Intimidator 305 – Kings Dominion
Image: Ben Schumin , Wikipedia (license)
Okay, here is the first new speed in a while. Intimidator flies past the first three roller coasters, which peak at 85 MPH. Its top speed is 90 MPH, largely due to its height and precipitous first drop. Intimidator 305 is a gigacoaster, reaching 305 feet in the air (thus the name). And its initial fall is 300 feet straight down, something possible due to the 85-degree angle on the drop. Things get real in a hurry on Intimidator 305. It’s noteworthy that this particular gigacoaster was built in 2010, making the next entrant that much more impressive.
5. Millennium Force – Cedar Point
Image: Cedar FairAuthor’s confession: I’m in the tank for Millennium Force. I’ve previously described it as the best skyscraper coaster in the world. It’s my favorite coaster ever, and second place isn’t even close. So, keep my bias in mind here.
Nine years after Millennium Force, a competing park built an eerily similar attraction…and it STILL couldn’t surpass the original gigacoaster. Millennium Force stands a mighty 310 feet in the air and drops guests at an 80-degree angle. The rider experiences a strange disconnect as the serenity of the waters of Lake Erie distracts for a moment before the bottom drops out on the coaster cart. It’s a dizzying, inimitable ride experience that remains perfect roughly two decades after the opening of Millennium Force in 2000.
This attraction is the one that surpassed Goliath, never to look back until…
4. Fury 325 – Carowinds
Image: Cedar FairAn imitator finally usurped Millennium Force in 2015, 15 years after its debut. The roller coaster is Fury 325, whose height you can guess from the name. Thanks to the dizzying elevation, this gigacoaster squeezes out another couple of miles per hour from the ride design. Maxing at 95 MPH, it’s still only a minimal boost over Millennium Force.
I mention this because Fury 325 is 15 feet taller and claims a slightly better 81-degree drop. Even with these advantages, it only goes two miles per hour faster than the original gigacoaster.
3. Superman: Escape from Krypton — Six Flags Magic Mountain
The top three is where we stretch the definition of steel roller coaster. These attractions are undeniably the fastest in America. The catch is that they’re not the lengthy, twisty, turn-y coasters you visualize when you think about the ride type. Instead, these are glorified rocket launches.
You start on flat track that quickly increases speed thanks to hydraulic launching. After barely a second, you’re traveling at ridiculous velocity up a virtually straight incline. Effectively, you experience a similar sensation to getting shot out of a cannon straight up in the air.
Superman: Escape from Krypton is the weirdest of the top three coasters. This is true for a couple of reasons, which tie together. Originally, the Superman ride was different in design. In 2011, Six Flags modified the 1997 design in a crucial way. It goes backward now! And yes, it’s the only coaster on the list that can claim this style. Yes, Superman: Escape from Krypton goes 104 miles per hour…backward. Whether or not you turn back time during this experience a la Superman the movie is uncertain.
2. Top Thrill Dragster – Cedar Point
Image: Cedar FairNot content that they started the gigacoaster arms race, the mad scientists at Cedar Point upped their game again 2003. They constructed what I can only describe as the world’s thinnest skyscraper, a 420-foot edifice that became the world’s first stratacoaster. These coasters stretch at least 400 feet into the sky, literally placing you in rare air, if only for a moment.
The design of Top Thrill Dragster pushed the limits of coaster technology so much that it experienced a dramatic amount of downtime during its first year. Those of us who were willing guinea pigs would stand in line for four hours or more, knowing full well that a drop of rain could shut the ride down for the afternoon. And gusts of wind could cause the Top Thrill Dragster structure to shake a bit, which was equal parts enticing and terrifying.
Why would anyone put up with this sort of aggravation? It’s simple. Top Thrill Dragster accelerates from zero to 120 miles per hour in four seconds. It IS the equivalent of a drag race in that you experience breakneck speed, but the whole thing is over in 30 seconds. Those 30 seconds, tho…
1. Kingda Ka – Six Flags Great Adventure
Kingda Ka debuted only a couple of years after Top Thrill Dragster, but the connection between the two rides is unmistakable. They’re similarly built, with Kingda Ka taking all of the information that they had about Top Thrill Dragster and beating it. The Six Flags Great Adventure attraction is 456 feet tall, 36 feet more than its predecessor.
What’s the purpose of the added height? You know that what goes up must come down, right? The extra height on the rise leads to increased velocity during the drop. Kingda Ka tops out at a velocity of 128 miles per hour, almost exactly double the speed limit!
The speed matters, too. Kingda Ka includes 318 feet more coaster track than Top Thrill Dragster. Despite the added length, this ride is actually shorter at 28 seconds! It tears through the track at such insane velocity that it overcomes the difference in size in a matter of seconds.
Kingda Ka is a triumph of architecture and engineering. It’s not just the fastest roller coaster in America. It claims that title by a whopping eight miles per hour; more impressively, it’s 28 miles per hour faster than the third-best speed demon, Superman: Escape from Krypton. And here’s the one that will really bake your brain. It’s more than 50 percent faster than rides #6-#9 on this list. It absolutely eviscerates them in terms of pure velocity.
The real shock is that Kingda Ka has stood out as the fastest American ride since 2005. Where’s the competition, other theme park operators?! Get working on something that will make Kingda Ka seem like Phantom’s Revenge! The entire industry is based on this race to be the king of speed!
