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| Smiler at Alton Towers | |
| Status | In production |
| Introduced | 2013 |
| Number built | 12 |
| First built | Smiler (31 May 2013) |
| Latest built | Palindrome (2024) |
| Rider height | 121.9 cm minimum |
| Statistics | |
| Manufacturer |  |
| Type | Steel |
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill Vertical chain lift hill LSM Launch LSM Swing Launch |
| Top speed | 140 km/h |
| G-Force | 5.5 |
The Infinity Coaster is a model of steel roller coaster manufactured by German manufacturer Gerstlauer. It debuted in 2013 with the Smiler at Alton Towers.
Design
The Infinity Coaster is Gerstlauer's biggest coaster type along with the Infinity Inverted Coaster. It follows the popular Euro-Fighter line as a more premium variant, and thus posses over all options the Euro-Fighter does. The main difference is the trains. The Euro-Fighter sports small 4x2 cars, wheras the Infinity features trains with seperate cars seating 4 across. This gives the infinity a less clunky look and feeling. Infinity Coaster trains have lap bar restraints, apart from the Smiler, which features the Over-the-shoulder harness as seen on the Euro-Fighter. The shortest Infinity Coaster trains are only 2 cars long, and can be seen on 5 different coasters. The longest train is 5 cars long and can only be found on 1 coaster; Gold Rush. Gersltauer does offer trains of up to 8 rows, but no longer than 5 have appeared as of yet.
Infinity Coasters can feature both a chain lift hill, whether it be vertical or not, and LSM launches, just like the Euro-fighter. A diffrence though, is that Infinity Coasters can feature more so-called tricks. These can range from swing launches to backwards sections. Schwur des Kärnan would be the first coaster to feature one of these tricks with a backwards free-fall on the vertical chain lift, before re-ascending the lift. Kärnan would also be the first and so far only hyper roller coaster build by Gerstlauer, as well as being the only hyper coaster with a vertical chain lift. The next tricks would debute 4 years later on Mystic and Fury. Both feature a turntable, with Mystic using it to return to the station after reversing off of a twisted in-line rollback. Fury would feature a system where riders can vote for a forwards or backwards ride with buttons attached to the lap bars. The turn table will then twist either left or right depending on which choice got the most votes.
Another feature of the Infinity Coaster is their ability to function as a shuttle coaster. This technically debuted on Fury, but was explored more in-debt on Palindrome. This is because Fury only technically counts as a shuttle coaster, but the train doesn't fully shuttle back and forth like on traditional shuttle coasters.
Layout
All models debuted as a custom layout before ending up in the catalog, allowing other parks to purchase the same layout. This phenomenon happens with every Gerstlauer model. The prototype for the Infinity Inverted Coaster; Storm - The Dragon Legend has its layout heavily based on the 400m Infinity Coaster layout, but its not an exact clone. No other Infinity layout has been reproduced so far, despite the following layouts in the catalog.
| 400m | 460m | 700m | 860m | 1140m | |
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| Length | 400 metres | 460 metres | 700 metres | 860 metres | 1140 metres |
| Height | 32 metres | 35 metres | 33 metres | 43 metres | 35 metres |
| Speed | 90 km/h | 84 km/h | 100 km/h | 105 km/h | 85 km/h |
| No. build | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Status | In production | In production | Discontinued | In production | In production |
Installations
| Name | Park | Country | Layout | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smiler | Alton Towers |  |
1140 | May 31, 2013 | Operating |
| Karacho | Erlebnispark Tripsdrill | |
700 | July 10, 2013 | Operating |
| Junker | PowerPark |  |
860 | May 30, 2015 | Operating |
| Schwur des Kärnan | Hansa Park | |
Custom | July 1, 2015 | Operating |
| Monster | Adventureland |  |
Custom | June 4, 2016 | Operating |
| Madagascar Mad Pursuit | Motiongate |  |
Custom | 2017 | Operating |
| Gold Rush | Attractiepark Slagharen |  |
400 | April 13, 2017 | Operating |
| HangTime | Knott's Berry Farm | |
Custom | May 18, 2018 | Operating |
| Mystic | Walibi Rhône-Alpes |  |
460 | May 30, 2019 | Operating |
| Fury | Bobbejaanland |  |
Custom | June 24, 2019 | Operating |
| Pitts Special | PowerPark | |
Custom | June 24, 2020 | Operating |
| Palindrome | Cotaland | |
Custom | 2025 | Under construction |
External links
- Infinity Coaster on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
- Infinity Coaster on Gerstlauer's website (In German)
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