0-128 in 3 Sec!

[RandalJ]

Not exactly 911 related, but I thought most of you might appreciate this. Went to Great Adventure Amusement Park in New Jersey last Friday while visiting my brother. It just so happened that Kingda Ka, the mother of all rides, had re-opened that day. We didn't realize it until we got there.

Anyway, for those unfamiliar with this ride, you basically get into an open-top low-slung roller coaster that seats 2X2 per car, maybe four cars per train, and are blasted by a catapult down a slightly inclined straight, maybe an eigth of a mile long. 0-128 in three seconds, it is claimed. At the end of the straight, you go vertically (NOT in an incline, but vertically, as in 90 deg from the earth's surface), up 458 feet to a tight apex at the top, then plunge straight down while twisting, finally coming out in a relatively gentle hump before returning to the depot, 28 seconds from blast off.

The thing is driven by a hydrolic/pnuematic linear motor, delivering 7400 h.p. The rush of acceleration is really incredible. Looks like an aircraft carrier launcher, only faster. Watching the train before us go, the acceleration was so severe, we had to laugh. Our laughter only intensified upon seeing the expressions of shock on the faces of the passengers when they returned, but gradually waned as we realized it was our turn.

I can report that the acceleration was violently fast, yet smooth and linear, except near maximum speed when the car seemed to vibrate too much. But, no time to dwell on that, as we rocketed skyward. In fact, everything goes so fast that your brain cannot process it. Except for that slow, sickening plunge from the top, when you CAN process that you are about to die.

(We only went once, as it was getting dark, so I'm sure going for a second or third time, you might take more in.)

Interestingly, the whole ride depends on the momentum from that launch. There is nothing else to pull the cars up the tower, so if by chance you get a bad launch (rare, they say), you won't make it. Up the tower, that is. You'd better hope that those reverse brakes work, heh, heh...

Anyway, if any of you are in the area, and have only dreamed of experiencing the acceleration of a super car, this might be your ticket. In fact, perusing the latest issue of R&T that just arrived, none of the super cars in it could even come close to this kind of acceleration.

By the way, I saw a 911 in the parking lot. It was silver and it looked nice.

[dweymer]

Originally posted by RandalJ

By the way, I saw a 911 in the parking lot. It was silver and it looked nice.

Nice save for the 911 content!!

What wheels did it have on it(technical content)?

Rides like that make me giggle watching too, I may have to try this skydiving thing.

[bell]

the "top thrill dragster" at cedar point isn't quite as tall as kingda ka, same manufacturer, same propulsion system.....
they have had nothing but problems with the system.....i';ve never been able to ride it as it was either down or was an 8 hour wait........
michelle used to work for cedar point and it would roll-back (not go over the top) numerous times throughout the day, she was an early morning "test rider" many many times and says roll backs are the absolutely worse thing in the world.......congrats on getting a ride, how long was the wait?

[tobluforu]

My viper goes 0-60 in 3.2 seconds and I park it next to my porsche.
yuck, yuck, yuck. Actually I love rides like that as well. That damn hot-shot on top of the stratosphere is scary as hell. Go at night, tilt your head back and away you go. Could have sworn I saw a Porsche in the parking lot.

[RandalJ]

Bell, we opted for the Fast Track Gold for another $40, so the wait was less than 20min. However, we gave up our place in line twice (in both instances we were to be next on), once due to the threat of lightning (all rides were shut down), and once due to a malfunction. We didn't think we'd get on at all, but it came up again late in the day, and we happened to be close by. The standard wait appeared to be about an hour or so, maybe because it was on a weekday, and it was hot and muggy. Maybe because it was scarry! But I heard it can be a 5 hour wait on a good weekend.

[bkreigsr]

free pic for those of you who could not make the r&t testing