Formula Rossa top speed

[Rastuso]

I made a new thread because this is not really related to my TR. I did post a video:

 

You can see it is only 59 seconds long.

 

HOWEVER, if you go to the POVs that are posted, the time it takes them to cover the same track is almost 10 seconds longer!!

 

Take a look at this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGyqztIdUiQ

It's from about :09 to 1:16 for the full run!!!

 

And this one also:

 

It's from about :16 to 1:23 for the full run!!!

 

The both seem to be about 10 seconds longer, since in mine, it doesn't even launch until about :03.

 

As I said in my report, some launches were INSANELY fast. I'd sure love to know some official specs on the speed, and corresponding lap times. THere seems to be a HUGE difference between how fast it was going when I was there, and back near opening. Now, maybe the timing on my camera is screwed, or it's something with Youtube, but I really doubt that. My raw video says it is 58 seconds long.

 

-RO

[Fooz]

Neat, great to see it running so well. I wish I could ride it!

[outbackjack]

I don't know why, but for some reason that doesn't look/feel like a coaster to me.

 

Sounds almost like a monorail train....almost too smooth and too big and sweeping.

 

This might not make any sense at all...I can't really describe why it looks so blah to me.

 

I'd LOVE to try the launch...but then it just looks like it slowly creeps along.

 

I'm sure in person it's completely different.

[Rastuso]

No, that's about it. Great launch, MEH everything else.

[DenDen]

Actually, the 2nd and 3rd video are of the same stock footage.

[funkeymon]

After watching the first and second video, I think that in the first one, the trims on top of the hill weren't on. During the POV you can tell that they were for sure. So thats my thoughts.

[scooterdoug]

^Those trims couldn't have been turned off altogether, that would make for some deadly g-forces.

 

Could it perhaps be that the trims are not biting as hard now, as opposed to when it first opened? They might have aired on the safe safe side at first, slowing the train down a little more. After seeing the effect of the coaster on riders, they might have turned down the trims on that first hill. The train does seem to go over those hills faster in your video than in the stock footage. Also, those POVs were taken before the trains had a chance to break in, which means slower rides. For example, if you look at the POV of Millennium Force when it was first built, it rides significantly slower than it does now. Same thing: new trains that hadn't been broken in yet. So, it could be either of those things, or a combination. Or, perhaps something else all together. Just my guess.

 

-Doug "Even though the course indeed looks 'meh', I still would love to ride it" Heim

[BlueFireCoaster]

It does in fact look like the trims at the top of the first hill have been adjusted to let the train ride through faster. Time the train from the end of the launch to the bottom of the first hill, and it trimmed about 2 seconds off from the off-ride video, to the POV video.

 

That's the only explanation as far as I can tell.

[FeelTheFORCE]

^^ The trims are magnetic fins, and therefore can't be "turned up" or "turned down." Placement can be adjusted, but that's it. They are going to "bite" the same now as they did when it opened, if placement is untouched.

 

Also, I have ridden Millennium Force numerous times, including in 2000 and 2011. Both rides were exactly the same as far as speed was concerened, it was not "significantly slower" in 2000. Maybe during the first couple test runs, but not when I rode it. If it was slower, it was no more than a few MPH...nothing noticeable.

[mightbeawannabe]

Maybe they're getting more comfortable with the launch and are running it at full steam, whereas they may have only been running it at 80% before. The magnetic fins will only subtract a certain amount, not bring anything that rolls over them to a set speed. They'd need to be longer than they were if they're launching at a higher speed now to get out of those trims at the same speed as before.

 

Is this making any sense?

[Rastuso]

I think that is what is going on. I think the launches are much faster, and the train is faster throughout. Another video I watched, which is a reverse POV, shows a nice smooth slowdown, and again a ride time about 5 seconds longer than my video. On my fast rides, the final brakes were severe.

 

Maybe DubaiDave can chime in. He rode it over a span of time, including before opening.

 

-RO