I've noticed that the top speed on SoB is only 15 mph slower than MF and MF has a drop of 300. I personally think if 86 feet was added to SoB's drop that it would go faster than 93 mph. Im just wondering if anybody is thinking the same that I am or does anybody think that steel is faster that wood?
78 M.P.H. is around the speed that most 200+ coasters go. I would think that steel coasters would go faster because woodies have more friction. Anyway... 15mph is a big difference in the coaster-world.
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Spring Break- IOA,BGT,Magic Mountain,Epcot,MGM
*** This post was edited by Czeck on 2/13/2001. ***
Czeck said:
"78 M.P.H. is around the speed that most 200+ coasters go.
All the 200 foot coasters i can think of have speeds of 72 or 73 MPH.
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Get wrapped in the coils of Viper at SFGAm.
Speed increase is not linear. The maximum speed for a 214 foot drop is roughly 79.9 MPH. That's with no friction. Therefore, SOB is running about 2 MPH slower than theoretical max due to frictional losses (air resistance, track friction, etc.) I'm unsure of SOB's velocity at the beginning of the drop, but it should push the final max velocity to ~81 MPH tops.
MF's 300 foot drop yields a maximum speed of 94.67 MPH. This is the maximum speed of a 300 foot drop in a frictionless environment. Adding in the lift hill speed bumps this max to about 97.5 MPH. Taking into account that SOB is running roughly 3 MPH slower than its theoretical max, and that MF is running ~3.5 MPH slower than theoretical max, it's close enough to say that if SOB was 310 feet tall, it would run ~93 MPH. (the extra .5 MPH loss can easily be made up in air resistance from falling an extra 90 feet through the air)
Jman
*** This post was edited by Jman on 2/13/2001. ***
I think wood feels faster than steel. Just because of the extra vibration the trains have. Sorta like the difference of going 55mph in a Cadillac or 55 in a Yugo.
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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer
I think it all boils down to train size, train weight, train shape, wheel type, wheel condition, weather condition, track condition, time of day [for some coasters], etc etc.
The list is endless.
