So we’ve covered the best roller coaster videos, and we’ve told you of the highest drops you can find, but for me we’ve missed the all time most important aspect of a great coaster ride. Speed! It doesn’t matter how high, or how many times a roller coaster goes upside down if it isn’t done at breakneck speed then it just can’t give you that adrenaline fuelled high.

The classic image of the roller coaster is one of a high speed stomach churning experience that throws you at all kinds of angles that the human body was never supposed to experience. The majority of the great coasters stick to this rough formula, combining speed with loops, twists and turns. However there are some that ignore the rules, some that return to the root of what the roller coaster experience is about. Doing away with complicated loops, stripping everything down into one visceral element, speed, we have our top 5 fastest roller coasters in the world.

Sadly there are none in the UK, not even the 80mph Stealth at Thorpe Park breaks the top 10. And if any of you have been on that ride, like I have, I’m sure you’ll have some idea of just how quick the following rides really are.

1. Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure – Jackson Township, New Jersey in the USA

Standing at 456 feet high the Intamin AG manufactured Kingda Ka propels you along the 3118 feet of track at a staggering 128mph. This is a ride that is so quick that it has to be shut during even light rain as rider contact with the rain drops is alleged to cause discomfort.

The Kingda Ka was announced to the public on September 29th, 2004 to the media and enthusiasts. It was claimed that the new coaster would become the fastest and tallest roller coaster on the planet, both claims it has since lived up to.

The ride itself is very similar to Stealth in that it is a hydraulic launch ride. The car is fired down the track by the hydraulic launch mechanism at the start of the ride, where it goes from 0-128mph in just 3.5 seconds, pulling 1.83 G’s. The force of the motor produces an unparalled 20,800 horsepower, the same as 44 Porsches. Once launched the car ascends the main tower peaking at 456 feet before plunging down through a 270 spiral. Another factor that makes Kingda Ka unique is that the ride has a second hill after the main descent that provides a brief moment of weightlessness. The ride is slowed by its magnetic brakes and returns to the station just 28 seconds after launch.

Just like Stealth the Kingda Ka can rollback and visitors are warned of this during the queue.

I’ve been on Stealth a few times and at 80mph that felt very very quick. I can only imagine what this ride is like, being half as fast again. Perhaps some of you have experienced it? Please let us know if you have, would be interesting to read some first hand comments.

2. Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point – Sandusky, Ohio in the USA

The Top Thrill Dragster is a close sibling of the Kingda Ka, both are hydraulic launched stratacoasters built by the Swiss firm Intamin AG. Maxing out at 120mph it is close behind the younger Kingda Ka and at the time of its launch in May 2003 it broke five records; first continuous-circuit coaster to top 400 feet, first to 120mph, highest drop, fastest and tallest in the world.

The ride follows the same routine as the Kingda Ka, and even has rollbacks just like other stratacoaster style rides. I’m sure, like me, that many guests actually want a rollback to occur as you get to experience the exciting launch again. However on Friday June 24th 2005 the train was launched with exactly enough speed and momentum to leave it perched at the top of the tower. It stayed put for an agonising fifteen minutes before a maintenance worker managed to push it along and sent it down the other side. A terrifying experience for some I would imagine. I can’t decide where I’d be scared or whether I’d love that to happen to me. You’d have a great view at least, although perhaps the wind rocking the track at that height might make you feel uneasy.

3. Dondonpa at Fuji-Q Highand – Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi in Japan

The fastest steel coaster outside the USA is the Dondonpa in Japan clocking in at 106.9mph. Only two years older than Top Thrill Dragster I guess it shows how far the technology moves on. Kingda Ka was launched in 2005, so we’re overdue another fastest roller coaster by now, I’m hoping one can break 130mph within the next year and preferably in Europe so I can experience it.

The Dondonpa is a thrust air coaster and is constructed by S&S Power of Utah, USA. The Japanese coaster is not nearly as high as it’s American counterparts but makes up for that by having the highest acceleration at launch time of all, going from 0-107mph in less than 2 seconds.

The name Dondonpa supposedly comes from the music that is played to guests as they queue for the ride.

4. Superman the Escape at Six Flags Magic Mountain – Valencia, California in the USA

Designed on a Superman theme, the queue area of this ride is designed like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and is air conditioned to simulate being in arctic conditions.

Launched in 1997 it is a shuttle roller coaster with a linear motor launch track, reaching 100mph and lasting 28 seconds. What is most unique about this ride is that riders will experience six and a half seconds of zero gravity as the ride descends.

5. Tower of Terror at Dreamworld in Coomera, Queensland, Australia

Really in a joint fourth place with Superman the Escape, the Tower of Terror also reaches 100mph at its top speed.

The Tower of Terror has caused some controversy among roller coaster enthusiasts, as it goes up the tower, only to fall back again. Some people do not believe it qualifies as a roller coaster and it has been omitted from several lists in the past. Not here, however, I mean, it’s fast, tall and has a car on a track, how can it not be a roller coaster?

The Future?

So the Kingda Ka has been ‘kingda’ of the castle for three years now it would seem about time that there was a new coaster to come along and break the 130mph barrier. There are rumours of a new coaster to be built near the Nürburgring motor racing circuit in Germany. The planned ride would simulate the start of a Formula 1 race, but apparently won’t be completed until 2009. I’m not too bothered about the wait at it means finally a top speed coaster in Europe. Although Stealth is near to me in the UK and is quick, it is put to shame by the coasters in this list today.

Have any of you been on these coasters? Perhaps someone has ridden the Kingda Ka, if so let us know what it was like!