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The current best coaster manufacturer.

Who presently makes the best coasters?

  • Mack

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • B&M

    Votes: 17 63.0%

  • Intamin

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Gerstlauer

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Dynamic Attractions

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • S&S

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Vekoma

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • GCI

    Votes: 1 3.7%

  • RMC

    Votes: 2 7.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    27
TheMan

TheMan

TS Member
Favourite Ride
NemiLerVion
This isn't about your favourite manufacturer. Mack are clearly a forum favourite, I know there's a fair few Intamin fans around also - me included. B&M are often associated with dull rides nowadays on the whole, having lost their "edge" somewhat, though they seem to be making some ground back... no doubt forced by the inventive nature of other pretenders to the throne. Gerstlauer are pitching in with their new, incredibly flexible and offering great value "Infinity" coasters. Intamin launch continue to be extremely thrilling. S&S are breaking boundaries with their Polarcoaster.

Of course then we have the RMC crazy "woodies", I took Premier out as they really aren't doing a huge amount, and I wanted to add some comedy Chinese ones but alas there were not enough options.

Let's not forget the incredible new Dynamic Attractions SFX coaster which if done well with their new multiple "trick tracks" could truly revolutionise what is thought possible in much the same way B&M did all those years back.

So for me, right now? It's still B&M. They're not my favourite, Nemesis and Oblivion aside, but their coasters are absolutely rock solid reliable, built to last, and long term are a great investment for any park. The new launch at Holiday World looks a darling of a family coaster, with in my opinion, the Wing finally finding its right market.

It's been a little while since I've seen a poll or discussion thread on this, Mack are expanding rapidly with their Mega with apparently a fair few orders in - so right now, who do you think is making the best rides?

Remember though, not necessarily your favourite, Intamin are mine in general but for this I have to still vote B&M for their all round performance.

A fair few of you have ridden many, many more rides globally than I have. I look forward to your opinions on a serious thread for me for a change!
 
Going to go out on a limb and say GCI. Every installation they seem to do nowadays looks as though it's fantastic. Their ride quality is great, their train designs almost perfect and some of the unique features of their coasters (ie. station flythrough) really add to a project. I've only ridden two (Wodan and Apocalypse) but they were both far better than I'd hoped for, and I've heard nothing but great things about some of their other recent installations (Troy, White Lightning).

Clearly they've made some...errors in the past (Gwazi) but I think they've improved immensely and any park would take one of their coasters nowadays.
 
I'll probably be alone in saying this, but I think Gerstlauer. I'll admit that B&M coasters are still pretty much undoubtedly the highest "quality" in the world, but I just think that at the minute Gerstlauer's are the most exciting and from a design point of view more edgy and experimental than the rest of the major manufacturers, atleast from what I've seen recently.
 
B&M still tend to 'guarantee' a good coaster but I am going to echo Alastair.

GCI are absolutely excellent at that thrill/family edge with not one of their more recent coasters what I would consider poor.

There's something about that twisty nature and speed.

I must say Mack are on the way up too.
 
RMC have torn up the rulebook of what a wooden coaster can do, and made some seriously impressive rides doing so. They may not necessarily build the best rides, but they're not far off, plus the innovation and fearlessness with which they've gone about forcing their way in to the industry is hugely impressive.
 
Don't forget to vote in the poll, even if you don't want to answer in the thread (or vice versa). The results are proving interesting so far! 2 for RMC at an early stage I didn't imagine happening.

Applauding @Adam's bravery :D

For any quieter members concerned about voicing their opinions, really, don't be - this one is about a personal opinion, airing views rather than debating. I know the threads can get meaty, especially mine :D but in this case I'd genuinely appreciate as diverse an opinion as possible.

I am surprised no one has voted in Dynamic Attractions yet! Not surprised Intamin are without votes and I am wondering why I put Vekoma in instead of GG as at least they're building SOMETHING and I can't recall the last Vekoma apart from the very well received family inverter.

Are they on the decline?
 
For me the best coaster manufacturer without a shadow of doubt is B&M. If a part wants to build a new coaster that is guaranteed to be of a high quality, smooth, thrilling and durable then as long as they have the money they will go to B&M.

B&M take a lot of stick from enthusiasts these days and from may point of view a lot of it is unwarranted. Ok some of their coasters have got a little bit formularic, but for me the key word there is some. Ultimately they will build what a park wants or asks for, and if a park wants a coaster that is similar in layout to another coaster then that is what B&M will do. But they they have shown with Oz'Iris for example that they are still more than capable of building coasters will fantastic unique layouts. And look what they are doing right now with Fury 325, it is very different to what they have done in the past.

No other coaster manufacturer has a proven record like B&M. Their coasters are smooth and stay smooth. We all know Intamin's go rough over time. Gerstlauer are not know for their smooth coasters. We do not yet know how Mack's new mega coasters will age; the same applies for RMCs. I'm not even sure we can say that GCI's age well, most of their great coasters are new ones. Gwazi, one of their older coasters, is very rough and now closing.

B&M are in a league of their own for quality. They are clearly working on a 4D coaster right now and that really is very exciting.

:)
 
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PeteA said:
Intamin for me. They still push the limits and their coasters still provide the best rides for me.
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Whilst I agree with this SENTIMENT. Intamin are my favourite, you have to go a long long way to out do Kingda Ka for me, I still have yet to ride but even watching the thing on youtube mesmerises me and it's straight out of the "How 5 years olds draw a supercar" book of coaster designs. I mean that in the sense of pure indulgence of pushing the limits.

However.

Rob said:
B&M are in a league of their own for quality. They are clearly working on a 4D coaster right now and that really is very exciting.

:)
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As much as I love my Intamins, boy they get rough, too rough, and yet B&Ms behave almost like the day they opened - or you certainly don't get off them noticing they've got rougher on the few I've ridden.

They are just absolute class, and indeed it is the reviews of the likes of Oz'Iris and also the look of Fury, as well as the reviews of Shambhala, and the pure class that Nemesis and Oblivion still show after all this time.

The Holiday World launch one looks a real family gem! It's gorgeous I don't know why I just love it. I think it's because it's build with real love and enthusiasm, much like our beloved Nemesis was.

And I haven't heard much about the 4D, wish there was more info on it, but if they get that right and DON'T do an S&S who seemingly have moved their own 4D design inexplicably BACKWARDS then there's going to be a bit waiting list.

That's the reasons why I chose B&M too.

Cream always rises to the top, and I think after a few years of being perhaps a little bland and safe, I think they're beginning to fight back for their position.
 
I just looked at my top 25 and yes there are B&M's in it, but apart from Oziris, they are all from the early days like Nemesis and the Batman clones, which I hasten to add I adore.

The B&M wing rider concept is a good one, however it doesn't really do anything for me. Just like their non looping hyper coasters, whereas an Intamin hyper tries to literally eject you.

There are a lot of Intamin rides which I love (Expedition G-Force, Goliath, Bizarro, El Toro, Balder etc) and they seem to turn their hand to anything from 300+ft conventional coasters (Intimidator 305) to the first launched winged coaster (Furious Baco) to 450ft+ launched coasters. I also haven't really been on a rough Intamin, even Colossus at Thorpe isn't rough, its just the uncomfortable trains which were retro fitted after the first season to potentially stop guests putting their feet outside the car.

It just seems as though whatever parks want they can deliver.

The only Intamin which I hated was Green Lantern at Six Flags Magic Mountain... The Zac Spins are terrible, truly terrible.
 
B&M for me. They may get some flack from the enthusiast community although they made some amazing innovations with Tussauds/Alton Towers and what you pay for is what you get. They are high quality, professional and reliable.

I hope in the next few years they do kind of make the next big thing though. There have been constant rumours of B&M working on a super secret project with Merlin Studios for Alton Towers. So I hope those rumours become true one day.

On the whole though they are the best for guaranteed quality.

I quite like some of Intamin's work though.
 
Mack are certainly the rising stars currently, but need a few more projects at the size of Helix to become the 'best'.

B&M ebb and flow in regards to some of their coasters, indeed, their Stand-Ups are absolutely awful, and they've attempted some experimental ideas with the recent obsession with backwards coasters. Even with their 'lull' over the last decade or so, even things like the hated Silver Bullet (which I enjoyed) are better than a lot of other rides.

Intamin, whilst pushing the boundaries (and often having those boundaries refined and improved upon by other companies) have some of the most over-rated stuff in the world, as well as the worst OTSR design to boot. Plus have created things like Baco and Tornado at Bakken, both of which are pretty unforgivable designs.

Gerstlauers I do enjoy, ,whereas a lot of the UK experience of them comes from Saw (which is awful) and Smiler (which is marmite), this does mean the opinion of them is skewed negatively. Mystery Mine and Fluch von Novgorod are great examples of what the Eurofighter can do, and Anubis is an excellent family thrill coaster.

Dynamic Attractions need to do more than one ride to be considered for this.

RMC have produced strange hybrids (NOT wooden coasters) which look absolutely ugly. Whether they can keep their wave of success going remains to be seen, especially as they've only really entered the US market (even with Wildfire due in 2016 in Sweden), and whether the positivity surrounding their rides is down to the actual quality or people being interested in something different.

GCI are solid and dependable, that's about it on that front with their current form. That's not a negative term towards them either, they are the B&M of the wooden coaster, you know you'll get quality, even if it's not particularly innovative anymore.

S&S, meh, what was the last good ride they built?

The rest (including the likes of Zamperla and Zierer) are just kind of there atm, Vekoma especially have fallen far down the pecking order in recent years, though I would say that Zierer could be ones to watch, especially from the family coaster market, as I'd much rather a park build one of their newer Force coasters than a Roller Skater.


For me, B&M are the best manufacturer out there. They broke innovation with the Inverted/Floorless/Stand-Up concepts at the time, and took the failed design of Baco and made it bearable to experience. Modern rides like Shambhala and Oz'Iris are also testament that they still know what they're doing, and doing it well across the board.
 
I've decided I will randomly email whoever wins this poll with a congratulatory message and see what happens lol.

If someone fancies designing a serious little award thing, then I will send them that as well :D

I'll do it as me conducting a poll to keep TS out the way, unless @Craig wants to do something with it.

We've seen manufacturers in the past or parks like quite like these little things, after all, it's from the community that super scrutinise everything they do!
 
Rob said:
I've not been on Scream but Kumba is not rough!

:)
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At the back of the train it's no Shambhala I can tell you. Granted it's had over 20 years of service so I'll overlook it, but Scream is even worse and that's only just over 10 years old. Could be down to train maintenance though.
 
Well I wouldn't expect a 20 year old coaster to be as smooth as a 3 year old coaster! :p More often than not though B&Ms do stay smooth with age, certainly more so than other manufactures coaster's.

:)
 
At the moment? RMC's star is burning very bright right now. GCI continue to be at the top of their game. Intamin don't seem to have produced any of their stone-cold stunners for a few years. B&M seem to be putting out better stuff than their 00s 'directionless period', and Mack are excelling with their megacoasters.
 
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