The World's 10 Fastest Roller Coasters

By Arthur Levine, About.com Guide

Do you have a need for speed? Want to test your mettle against the world's speediest metal behemoths? The world's 10 fastest roller coasters are all made of steel (no wood coaster currently cracks the list), come in a variety of designs, and use an assortment of launch systems to catapult their rides into the record books. Hang on tight. Seven of the fastest roller coasters reach or exceed 100 mph. Yikes!

Honorable Mention: Xcelerator- 82 mph

• Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California
• Hydraulic launch rocket coaster

Considerably smaller and slower than either Kingda Ka or Top Thrill Dragster (but still plenty tall at 205 feet), the similar Xcelerator nonetheless reaches a bone-rattling speed in a matter of seconds. It certainly doesn't feel a heckuva lot slower than its enormous cousins when you are barreling down its straight launch track staring at the top hat tower ahead. If speed is relative, consider Xcelerator relatively fast.

Read a review of Xcelerator.

More Knott's Berry Farm Info:

• Ghostrider- Review of Knott's wooden coaster
• Silver Bullet- Review of Knott's inverted steel coaster