The World's Fastest Roller Coasters

[Ms. Aziz]

Do you have a need for speed? Want to test your mettle against the world's speediest metal behemoths? The world's 10 fastest roller coasters are all made of steel (no wood coaster currently cracks the list), come in a variety of designs, and use an assortment of launch systems to catapult their rides into the record books. Hang on tight. Five of the fastest roller coasters reach or exceed 100 mph.

1: Formula Rossa- 149 mph
Formula Rossa accelerates from 0 to 100 km (62 miles) in 2 seconds, climb 52m (171 feet), and riders experience 1.7 Gs. Formula Rossa starts inside the indoor theme park, accelerates through the dome, travels outside the park, and returns to the loading station inside the building. The train's cars look like flashy red Formula One Ferraris.

[Ms. Aziz]

2. Kingda Ka- 128 mph
    * Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, New Jersey
    * Hydraulic launch rocket coaster

Less a roller coaster and more a thrill machine designed for bragging rights, Kingda Ka is, in my opinion, a one-trick pony. Granted, it's a heckuva trick and, as the world's fastest coaster, a once-in-a-lifetime rush. But, for me, once is enough. The launch scared me silly--and I'm a fairly seasoned coaster vet. But, in the end, despite its record-breaking 456-foot top hat tower (making it the tallest coaster in the world), Kingda Ka left me flat.

[Ms. Aziz]

3. Top Thrill Dragster- 120 mph
    * Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
    * Hydraulic launch rocket coaster

When it debuted in 2003, Top Thrill Dragster was the top dog--the fastest and tallest roller coaster in the world. The similar Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure has since eclipsed it, although not by much. Like all rocket coasters, Top Thrill Dragster is all about the hang-on-for-your-dear-life launch.

[Ms. Aziz]

4. Dodonpa- 107 mph
    * Fuji-Q Highland, Yamanashi, Japan
    * F1 Thrust Air coaster

Using a compressed air launch, Dodonpa goes from 0 to 107 mph in just under two seconds. Unlike Germany's ring racer, the Fuji-Q Highland coaster races up and down a 170-foot top hat tower at 90 degrees. The whole ride clocks in at 55 seconds.

[Ms. Aziz]

5 (tie). Tower of Terror- 100 mph
    * Dreamworld, Queensland, Australia
    * Magnetic induction shuttle coaster

Using linear synchronous motors, Tower of Terror (which bears no resemblance to the Disney drop tower rides) shoots straight and up an L-shaped track, slows as it reaches the top (and delivers a huge pop of free-floating airtime), and then retraces its route backwards to the loading station.

[Ms. Aziz]

6. Steel Dragon 2000- 95 mph
    * Nagashima Spa Land, Nagashima, Japan
    * Out and back terra-coaster

Unlike the rides that precede it on the world's fastest roller coasters list, Steel Dragon 2000 uses a traditional lift hill (rising an incredible 318 feet) and gravity to propel it to a face-melting speed. At four minutes and with a length of 8133' feet, the coaster is the world's longest.

[Ms. Aziz]

7. Intimidator 305- 94 mph
    * Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia
    * Out and back Giga-Coaster

Like the original Giga-Coaster, Millennium Force at sister park, Cedar Point, Intimidator 305 is all about crazy speed and intense G-forces. It does not include any inversions, nor does it incorporate any gimmicky features such as an hydraulic launch or rider-controlled onboard audio. But it does go insanely fast and rattles riders with enough positive Gs to, well, intimidate the heck out of them.

*Note that shortly after Intimidator 305 opened, Kings Dominion added trim brakes which slowed its speed. The revised speed has not been released, but it's likely that the ride no longer qualifies as one of the world's ten fastest coasters.

[Ms. Aziz]

8. Millennium Force- 93 mph
    * Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
    * Out and back Giga-Coaster

Cedar Point's second entry on the world's fastest coasters list is a more traditional thrill machine--although Millennium Force uses an elevator cable instead of a lift chain to quickly move its trains up its mammoth 310-foot hill. Accelerating to 93 mph, the ride is so intense that I experienced a brief moment of "grayout" at the bottom of the first drop when I rode the coaster.