Which manufacturer has the smoothest coasters?

[cjbrandy]

RMC?
B&M?
Intamin?
Mack?

All 4 manufacturers have built some very smooth coasters. Examples include Fury 325 (B&M), 13 (Intamin), Blue Fire (Mack) and any existing RMC!

Obviously its subjective but I think the answer to this question may be RMC... B&Ms have a reputation for being perfectly smooth when brand new but the company's coasters are notorious for picking up a rattle after a few years and older models from the 90s can be downright rough and shaky in some cases (Dragon Khan).

It may be too early to tell if RMC should win here but Ive never heard even the slightest complaint about a rattle on an RMC ever. You can search high and low on these forums for mentions of any kind of roughness on an RMC and I can promise you, you won't find any. They also look super smooth from videos but obviously its not the same as riding.

I haven't got enough creds to accurately answer this question so I'll be interested to read what some of you think

 

[GuyWithAStick]

There really is no definitive answer yet.

B&Ms and Intamins are smooth when they come out, but can gain a rattle after 5-ish years. Mack has quite a few rough rides(ala Mack Mice and a few spinners), and it's too early for RMC to tell. So far, it's RMC, but it could very well gain a rattle. I hope to god I eat my words.

 

[Hyde]

When all's said and done, how the ride is maintained will be the biggest determiner of smoothness. The component parts of these roller coasters after all are nearly identical - similar polyurethane material for wheels, similar steel for track, etc. And while design differ, the general premise of how to cope with roller coaster dynamics (g-force, gravity, lateral forces) are pretty constant across the board.

All that being said, the newer steel designs provide for a tighter tolerance, meaning wheels provide for better contact with the track during the ride, and create a smooth ride experience. So in general, new steel coaster designs will be the smoothest... but I have had smoother rides on Viper at SFMM and Canyon Blaster at Adventuredome (1990s Arrow Loopers) than Diamondback at Kings Island.

 

[cjbrandy]

but I have had smoother rides on Viper at SFMM and Canyon Blaster at Adventuredome (1990s Arrow Loopers) than Diamondback at Kings Island.

**** me, I heard it had a rattle to it but I didn't know it was that bad!

 

[grumpyfan]

In general, I have to say B&M, but @Hyde makes a good point about maintenance.
If maintenance is lacking, it can make for a rough ride on any coaster, regardless of the manufacturer.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I'm willing to say B&M here, although I haven't ridden many of their coasters. From what I've heard, though, the newer B&Ms are made to practically float around the track, and floater forces on the riders means floater forces on the cars and track, which again means less roughening as time goes by.

At any rate, smoothness of coasters seems to have increased vastly as ride construction software has become increasingly advanced, so I'm not sure if it's entirely fair to judge manufacturers as a whole over their entire life span. Intamin had time to make many "clunkers" in their days before they figured out the trick of smoothness, Vekoma is notorious in that regard, and on the other hand you have young companies such as RMC, whose coasters haven't had time to age into eventual rougness yet.

Anyway, since the answer as you say is subjective, does it really belong in the Q&A forum? Subjective questions fit better for General Discussion and Opinions, in my eyes. But that might be subjective too.

 

[ThomVD]

Modern Macks are the smoothest. Blue Fire, Dwervelwind and Arthur are in their own league when it comes to smoothness, and Helix is very smooth too. I have to ride more Mack megas to get a better opinion on this though. B&M is second.

 

[caffeine_demon]

RCCA

 

[GuyWithAStick]

^No, it's all about the Dinn Corp.

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

I would have to go with B&M. Intamins are smooth in most instances but I have heard complaints on Baco being rough and not heard a single complaint of a rough B&M; I could be wrong though. RMC is also a runner up but as cjbrandy said, Its too early to tell.

 

[gavin]

^ The early B&M stand ups, both called Vortex, are gross. Not just the slight rattle that others have, but full-on rough pieces of s**t.

Having said that, take those out of the equation and you're left with consistently smooth rides.

 

[Hyde]

but I have had smoother rides on Viper at SFMM and Canyon Blaster at Adventuredome (1990s Arrow Loopers) than Diamondback at Kings Island.

**** me, I heard it had a rattle to it but I didn't know it was that bad!

I was very blown away by Viper in particular - such a classic, large Arrow looper that was really able to handle the inversions and turns quite nicely!

 

[andrus]

I was very blown away by Viper in particular - such a classic, large Arrow looper that was really able to handle the inversions and turns quite nicely!

Viper? The Viper?? With the batwing of death:

Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oogsPSCnwS4/maxresdefault.jpg

People are complaining of having concussions from riding X2, these people clearly haven't been on Viper! You can see how bad peoples heads are banging the restraints from the X2 queue :shock: Horrible, horrible ride design!


As for the smoothest design: A lot of manufacturers coasters are smooth at opening, but age quickly (e.g. Intamin). The ones that stand the test of time the best are imo B&M They have several old rides that are still butter smooth, like e.g. Fligth Deck and Batman to name a few that are still as smooth as ever!

 

[Hyde]

^ Yes, yes, I know! My rides could have been a fluke, but Viper still gave a good ride - lightyears ahead of other Arrow multi-loopers. I guess take it all with a grain of salt. :lol:

Vortex </3

 

[XLR8R]

Intamin. While some of their coasters have not aged well, such as California Screamin', Intamin has produced some of the smoothest coasters I have ever ridden, such as Maverick and Millennium Force. I see B&M mentioned a lot in this thread, though I have experienced a bit too many B&M coasters that have square wheels, especially Diamondback.

 

[owentaylor121]

Intamin. While some of their coasters have not aged well, such as California Screamin', Intamin has produced some of the smoothest coasters I have ever ridden, such as Maverick and Millennium Force. I see B&M mentioned a lot in this thread, though I have experienced a bit too many B&M coasters that have square wheels, especially Diamondback.

But then you have loads and loads of rough Intamins, I can only think of 2 rough B&M's, the others may have a slight rattle but compared to other manufacturers they seem to have perfected their track and train designs.

 

[zazobo]

By far the smoothest thing I've ridden is Blue Fire, considering the layout of the track I think that's fairly impressive.. obviously the modern B&M hypers are delicious but some of their older inverted coasters are rather abrasive at times.

Intamin for me is just no. Based on UK/European coasters only (a small and fairly poor selection of intamin coasters I know..)

 

[Bat Fastard]

Obviously Vekoma. SLCs are definitely their smoothest product.


But really, I would say B&M and RMC. Have never been on anything significant from Intamin so I wouldn't know or not for those rides.

 

[Ben]

I would say RMC and Mack, but their stuff is all so new it's hard to really tell - the B&Ms that have been made in that time are just as smooth, it's just the ones decades old that are a bit rougher.

So, I'd probably still have to give it to B&M.

 

[Tomatron]

^Seconded. RMC have the smoothest right now but only time will tell if they stand up to the test of time.

Raging Bull and even some of the Batman clones are expectionally smooth despite their age.