Katun/Raptor question

[GuyWithAStick]

I've been bothered by this for a while. Though varying in heights/speed/other stats, both Katun and Raptor(CP) have almost the same layout. What makes Katun one of the best, and Raptor one of the worst? Is it the forces? The smoothness? What? I'm really interested.

Thanks!

 

[CanobieFan]

Um, I really don't think anyone says Raptor is one of the worst? In fact, its one of the very few coasters at Cedar Point I like.

 

[GuyWithAStick]

^I should rather say 'average quality'. If you look on the B&M Invert topic, most people put Katun towards the top of the list, and Raptor towards the middle/bottom. I'm just wondering what makes Katun so much better.

 

[andrus]

Haven't been on Raptor, but by looking at pictures it seems like a huge difference:

Raptor is just plonked on a piece of land, with most of the action taking place high up in the air and little to no interaction with the terrain. Katun on the other hand has great interaction with the terrain, beautiful theming, and it's larger :wink:

Love Katun! <3 I guess I would like Raptor too. But looking at it, it just seem like Raptor misses all those details which make Katun a top-10 coaster!

 

[Hyde]

In terms of layout, Katun is an alteration on the Raptor layout. The elemental flow is exactly the same, with the cobra roll at a 90 degree offset, while the return voyage to the station carries less slalom-action than Raptor.

Katun layout: https://www.google.com/maps/place/44%C2 ... !1s0x0:0x0

Raptor layout: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cedar ... 15735875a7

At the end of the day, Katun is taller, faster, and features closer-to-the-ground elements than Raptor. All are components that can make for a better ride.

 

[Ben]

Even if they had the same layout (they don't really) things like smoothness, shaping of inversions, speed throughout etc can make a huge difference.

It's not a case of 'they have the same elements so must be the same'. PMBO and EGF are both curved drop and loads of hills...

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Ok, thanks for clearing it up. I think I get it now.

Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Alaeriia]

With all due respect to Katun, I feel Raptor is the finest B&M invert out there. Yes, the pacing is a bit disjointed at times, and yes, the ride spends a lot of time high in the air. Here's my reasoning:

The zero-G roll has that odd banking going into it, making it a bit more interesting than standard B&M zero-G rolls.
The bits of free-flight before the MCBR allow for a break from the intensity of the first three elements, and the helix out of the MCBR into the first wingover kicks ass. Finally, the ending has a purpose: rather than "oh, we're out of inversions, let's head to the final brakes as fast as possible", you get that helix of awesome. The ride tells a better narrative than a lot of the B&M inverts (Silver Bullet, I'm looking at you) and feels like a good balance between the smaller inverts' intensity and the larger inverts' scale.

The Roller Coaster Philosopher ( http://www.rollercoasterphilosophy.com ) has a great post on this, which I pretty liberally stole from to create this post. Check his work out.