Believe it or not, the tallest and fastest currently-operating roller coaster in the entire world is one you’ve probably never cared much about: Red Force at Ferrari Land (part of the PortAventura Resort in Spain).
That’s right – the ride that used to be the fourth-fastest coaster on Earth is currently in spot number one thanks to a coincidental (but fairly jaw-dropping) string of abandonments of Intamin Accelerators this decade. Of course, Red Force is also an Intamin creation, but unlike Dragster, this ride used LSMs rather than hydraulics from the start. Surely, that makes Red Force a lot more reliable than its older sisters.
It also begs the question – what if Intamin had been asked to remake Dragster themselves? After all, Red Force is shorter than Dragster, but not by much (367 feet versus 420 feet) and it accelerates from 0 to 111.9 miles per hour in only 5 seconds, suggesting that Intamin probably could’ve converted Dragster into an LSM-based ride without the need for a swing launch…
In any case, Red Force is perhaps an unassuming ride for our readers – most of whom have probably never cared much about a random launch coaster in Spain – but for now, it’s both the tallest and fastest operating coaster in the world.
By the way, if we were to continue down the list of speed record holders, we’d encounter a few other interesting and noteworthy rides…
For example, after Formula Rossa, Kingda Ka, Top Thrill 2, and Red Force, we’d arrive at the usual fifth-place holder: Superman: Escape from Krypton at Six Flags Magic Mountain. This iconic Intamin coaster opened in 1997, using then-cutting-edge LSM technology to blast riders from 0 to 100 miles per hour in 7 seconds. But guess what? Yep. It, too, is “SBNO.” (The ride was mysteriously closed for almost all of 2024; in November, Six Flags finally acknowledged the ride was being “refurbished,” but with no timeline for re-opening.)
Technically, Ring Racer at Nürburgring in Germany would slot in next. This ride is notable for a few reasons. First, it’s not an Intamin. (The first coaster on this list not to be!) Instead, it was manufactured by S&S Sansei, who specializes in pneumatic (or air-powered) rides. S&S uses their compressed air technologies to power lots of attractions you’ve probably seen or been on, like their recognizable launch and drop towers, “Screamin’ Swings,” and more. When S&S uses air to launch coasters, it’s to breathtaking results. Pneumatic launches provide acceleration even Intamin’s hydraulic system can’t dream of. (S&S’s Maxx Force at Six Flags Great America, for example, launches from 0 to 78 miles per hour in just 1.8 seconds).
Ring Racer was designed to dethrone Dragster and Kingda Ka, accelerating from 0 to 135 miles per hour in just 2.5 seconds – half the time it takes Intamin’s rides to reach similar speeds. But engineering defects in the launch delayed the ride’s opening by four years. Specifically, when S&S tried to operate the ride at its intended top speed, it allegedly caused a series of explosions in the pneumatic system that injured seven bystanders and shattered the windows in nearby buildings.
It took four years for S&S to get the ride operating. By time it opened in 2013, even its intended top speed of 135 mph would’ve slotted it into second place after Formula Rossa. But Ring Racer has never operated successfully at that speed anyway. When it opened on October 31 2013, it “only” accelerated from 0 to 99.4 miles per hour in a staggering 2.0 seconds. Of course, most interestingly, it operated for only four days. The very week it opened, the park announced that it’s simply not economically viable to operate, and Ring Racer has been “SBNO” for a decade.
Only then do we reach the rides currently ranked as the second fastest on Earth – Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan and Fury 325 at Carowinds. The first gravity-powered rides on this list are also the first gigacoasters on the list, leading into the current third place entry (Cedar Point’s Millennium Force at 93 mph), then Canada’s Wonderland’s Leviathan (at fourth place at 92 miles per hour), and Kings Island’s Orion (91 mph, fifth place).
* Formula Rossa (149.1 mph)
* Kingda Ka (128.0 mph)
*Top Thrill 2 (120.0 mph)
1. Red Force (111.8 mph)
* Superman: Escape from Krypton (100.0 mph)
* Ring Racer (99.4 mph)
2. Steel Dragon 2000 and Fury 325 (95 mph)
3. Millennium Force (93 mph)
4. Leviathan (92 mph)
5. Orion (91 mph)
Out of the ten fastest rides on Earth, half (Formula Rossa, Kingda Ka, Top Thrill 2, Superman, and Ring Racer) are “SBNO”! Weird, right?
Of course, all that is about to change… Currently under construction at Six Flags Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia is a new Intamin creation destined to become the tallest and fastest roller coaster on the planet. Falcons Flight is being billed as the world’s first “exacoaster” (with a drop over 500 feet). Promising a 519 foot drop and a top speed of 155.3 miles per hour, this incredibly ambitious project is due for an opening in 2025… but will it work? Check our latest coverage here!
